The directorial duo Holbrooks of NY-based production house Blacklist teamed with Y&R New Zealand and NZ production house Flying Fish for this :30 PSA for Red Cross New Zealand. In the spot, the camera follows a Red Cross aid package as it transitions through different situations of crisis and delivers relief to people in need.
The PSA deployed a mix of cel animation and 3D camera work to balance handcrafted warmth with dynamic storytelling. Holbrooks–consisting of Daniel Gray and Tom Brown–took advantage of being located in both New York City and Budapest to maximize production days, working around the clock with the New Zealand client to manage the compressed production schedule.
“We wanted to take the material and create a real roller-coaster of imagery and emotion,” commented Gray. “We wanted to show how Red Cross is brave and committed in their quest to helping those in need.”
Holbrooks created a sophisticated look in response to the agency’s brief. The monochromatic tone throughout the film helps convey its serious message while a neutral backdrop makes the Red Cross emblem pop.
“Everyone working on the project was of the same mind for the direction,” said Brown, who oversaw the NYC animation team. “The design is closest to the true Holbrooks personal style.”
Music and sound design by Antfood supports the narrative–a journey from a serious and dark place to a resolution that is more hopeful.
The spot is currently running in New Zealand as part of the Red Cross Annual Appeal.
DGA Spot Nominees: Lance Acord, Kim Gehrig, Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim, Andreas Nilsson, Ivan Zacharias
This year’s field of nominees for the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award recognizing Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials consists of a filmmaker who’s won the honor each of the last two years, another past winner, a five-time nominee, a helmer who’s just picked up his second career nod, and a duo garnering their very first Guild nomination. The latter is the directorial team of Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim of production house PRETTYBIRD. The director now going for her third consecutive DGA Award win is Kim Gehrig of Somesuch. The other past winner is Andreas Nilsson of Biscuit Filmworks. Nilsson won the honor in 2016 and now has three career nominations. Lance Acord of Park Pictures just earned his fifth career DGA Award nomination in the commercials category--his four prior nods coming in 2004, 2012, 2013 and 2017. And scoring his second career DGA nod is Ivan Zacharias of SMUGGLER who was previously nominated in 2023. The work Gehrig earned her third straight nomination on the strength of three entries: SiriusXM’s “A Life in Sound” for agency Uncommon; Nike’s “Am I A Bad Person?” for Wieden+Kennedy, and the Apple client-direct spot titled “Find Your Friends.” Nilsson’s latest nomination came for Hennessy’s “Board Game” out of Wieden+Kennedy London; Andrex’s “First Office Poo” for FCB London; the client-direct Apple spot “One More”; and Virgin Media’s “Whizzer” for VCCP London. Acord’s fifth career nod is for Volkswagen’s “An American Love Story” out of agency Johannes Leonardo. Zacharias’ second career nomination is for Apple’s “Flock” out of TBWAMedia Arts Lab. And the duo of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim nabbed their first... Read More