Rodrigo Garcia Saiz (handled by Boxer Films, L.A.) directed via Central Films, Mexico, this :60 for Todos Los Dias Es El Dia (Everyday is the Day to Not Discriminate), a youth discrimination awareness non-profit organization in Mexico.
Conceived by Ogilvy & Mather Mexico, the PSA opens in a dimly lit classroom that is completely empty except for a young dark-haired boy sitting in the back corner. As the boy completes his assignment and gets up to leave for recess, the silence of the empty classroom is broken by the sound of a gunshot and shattered glass. The boy ducks behind his desk before running out into the hallway in desperate search of an escape. His pounding feet echo throughout the hallway as bullets graze the metal lockers behind him. He frantically looks for a place to hide as he darts into a nearby restroom but is still trailed by the pursuant.
The boy is seen running into the blinding light of the playground, looking back in horror to see if his predator is still in sight. Another shot blows through the air, hitting the boy just below the knee, bringing him to the ground. He turns his head to the sky, squinting into the sun, as a looming shadow blocks his view. Blood sprays the surrounding pavement as the final gunshot strikes the boy in the chest. The camera pans to the sneering faces of several children who are pointing and cackling as they stand in a circle around the boy.
The scene cuts to a wide view of the playground, where the fallen child is seen lying in the middle. The children have dispersed from the circle and are playing with the rest of their classmates as if nothing has happened. The children continue playing as the super appears, “In 2012, 5,000 kids died of causes related to bullying.” As the sounds of the playground fade out into the background, the spot ends with the tag, “Talk to your children.”
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