Droga5 has created a multi-pronged “Wild Rabbit” campaign for Hennessy Cognac which includes the brand’s first television work since 2007. The two-spot package includes a just debuted :90 starring boxer Manny Pacquiao.
Simply titled “Manny,” the commercial–directed by Johnny Green via Hungry Man–is marked by authenticity, offering an almost introspective, darkly filmic look at the fight game. Yet the bottom line is that Pacquiao’s “Wild Rabbit”–a metaphor for one’s inner drive and ambition, and what this celebrated athlete really finds most fulfilling–is his life as a politician representing everyday people. The spot concludes with the query, “What’s your Wild Rabbit?”
Other luminaries spotlighted in the overall campaign–spanning pop-up installations in NYC, Chicago and L.A., television, print, a rich online experience (www.NeverStopNeverSettle.com) and events–are filmmaker Martin Scorsese, and lyricist/poet Erykah Badu who too share their “Wild Rabbits.”
For the TV campaign, which also includes “The Chase,” which is scheduled to debut on April 13, the Droga5 creative ensemble included creative chairman David Droga, executive creative directors Ted Royer and Nik Studzinski, creative directors Maja Fernqvist and Joakim Saul, copywriter Feliks Richter, art director Alexander Nowak, head of integrated production Sally-Ann Dale, executive producer Ben Davies, associate producer Sarah Frances Hartley, and head of strategy Jonny Bauer.
Director Green’s Hungry Man support team included partners/exec producers Matt Buels and Kevin Byrne, and producer Robert Bray. Linus Sandgren was the DP.
Editor was Sam Sneade of Speade. A post contingent from The Mill included exec producer Sean Costelloe, producer Rachel Stones, colorist Fergus McCall, creative director Dan Williams, lead CG Jeffrey Dates, Flame artists Iwan Zwarts and Danny Morris, and character designer Tim Haldeen.
The music for “Manny” came from Human.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More