Miscommunication can spread like wildfire–and that’s the creative underpinning for this Solo Mobile phone service comedy spot directed by Brian Lee Hughes of Reginald Pike, Toronto, for Vancouver, B.C.-based agency Rethink.
We open in a high school hallway where students are rushing and milling about in-between classes. One girl says to another, “I completely choked on that test.”
That statement is heard by a nearby student who relates over her walkie talkie cell phone, “Lisa totally choked.”
A succession of kids relay the message on, translating into the “news” that Lisa “choked,” which soon becomes “choked to death.”
“That’s so sad,” says one classmate.
A girl reminisces, “We went to fat camp together.”
Several cell phone-wielding kids shed tears.
“Are you going to the vigil?” asks a lad over his cell phone.
Next we hear organ music as Lisa opens an auditorium door. She sees a huge photo of herself, with a roomful of kids–mostly dressed in black–in mourning. As she turns away to presumably leave this awkward situation, the kids see her, scream as if they’ve seen a ghost and then quickly disperse.
At this moment of bedlam, a voiceover is heard against a backdrop of graphics/product shots: “Solo Mobile. Cell phone. Walkie Talkie. Spread the Word.”
The Rethink creative ensemble consisted of creative directors Chris Staples and Ian Grais, associate creative director/copywriter Rob Tarry, art director Noreel Asuro, producer Ann Rubenstein and account director Tracey Chapple.
Director Hughes’ support team at Reginald Pike included executive producers James Davis and Josefina Nadurata, and producer Amalie Bruun. Tico Poulakakis was the DP.
Offline/online editor was Matthew Griffiths of Cycle Media, Vancouver. Colorist was Claudio Sepulveda of Technicolor, Vancouver.
Craig Zarazum of Wave Productions, Vancouver, served in the dual role of audio post mixer/sound designer.
Supreme Court Seems Likely To Uphold A Law That Could Force TikTok To Shut Down On Jan. 19
The Supreme Court on Friday seemed likely to uphold a law that would ban TikTok in the United States beginning Jan. 19 unless the popular social media program is sold by its China-based parent company.
Hearing arguments in a momentous clash of free speech and national security concerns, the justices seemed persuaded by arguments that the national security threat posed by the company's connections to China override concerns about restricting the speech either of TikTok or its 170 million users in the United States.
Early in arguments that lasted more than two and a half hours, Chief Justice John Roberts identified his main concern: TikTok's ownership by China-based ByteDance and the parent company's requirement to cooperate with the Chinese government's intelligence operations.
If left in place, the law passed by bipartisan majorities in Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in April will require TikTok to "go dark" on Jan. 19, lawyer Noel Francisco told the justices on behalf of TikTok.
At the very least, Francisco urged, the justices should enter a temporary pause that would allow TikTok to keep operating. "We might be in a different world again" after President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Trump, who has 14.7 million followers on TikTok, also has called for the deadline to be pushed back to give him time to negotiate a "political resolution." Francisco served as Trump's solicitor general in his first presidential term.
But it was not clear whether any justices would choose such a course. And only Justice Neil Gorsuch sounded like he would side with TikTok to find that the ban violates the Constitution.
Gorsuch labeled arguments advanced by the Biden administration' in defense of the law a... Read More