To promote workplace safety among young workers, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (WSIB) has created www.prevent-it.ca, a website featuring 11 animated videos that show a young worker, Scott, whose life changes dramatically after he loses his hand on a meat slicer at work and bleeds everywhere, on the face of the girl he dates and into his popcorn at a movie theater.
“They are very strange, uncomfortable visceral images that are all disturbing,” said J.J. Sedelmaier, president and director at J.J. Sedelmaier Productions/White Plains, NY, the animation studio. “They grab you because of that.”
“Scott” shows the main character with a bloody stump, walking down the street to meet his friend, before someone on a bike delivers a fake appendage.
The animations were created in comic-book style, “so that they looked like they were created by human beings, not computers,” Sedelmaier said. “They were drawn on paper, then we scanned them and colored them digitally, and delivered them as sequential TIFF files at 72 dpi.”
The campaign also included print ads, including transit posters, that were done first. “We used the same theme in the videos as we did in print,” he said. “We got to know the drawing style and the characters through the print.”
Joe Piccolo, group creative director at DRAFTFCB/Toronto, said the videos, which launched May 18, will only play at www.prevent-it.ca. He said workplace safety is “a subject kids don’t think about and if they’ve seen an ad, it’s forgotten. But the average time on the site is six minutes, which is a lot of time to spend, so we think it’s working.”
The videos combine with information on the site, such as how to file workplace complaints, that will teach young workers about safety on the job and help the WSIB achieve its goal of preventing accidents and providing assistance to workers who are injured on the job.
Director Hans Emanuel Joins Caviar For Commercials and Music Videos
Production company Caviar has signed director Hans Emanuel for U.S. commercial and music video representation. The film and advertising director fuses his keen--and Berlinale Film Festival Award-winning--eye for cinematic storytelling with a commercial background across multiple genres including beauty, automotive, dance, and visual effects-heavy projects, to produce creative for clients like Kia, Nivea, Nissan, L’Oreal, BMW and more.
Caviar executive producer Salim El Arja noted, “Hans has a unique ability to blend stunning visuals with heart and humor, rooted in his confidence as a craftsman. This allows him to focus on drawing exceptional performances from actors--including celebrities--and crafting films that are not only visually striking but also deeply engaging and often hilariously comedic. His sensibilities align perfectly with Caviar’s vision, and we’re excited to collaborate with him on work that pushes creative boundaries.”
Emanuel added, “Caviar is a renowned name, certainly since I began my career. They have a solid reputation for quality work, and I’ve always respected them as a company. Life is about where destiny makes you flow with the people you need; thanks to a series of projects, I was introduced to Florence Jacob with Caviar Paris first, and the rest is history. I feel they can support my career growth with their comedic expertise and filmmaking prowess.”
Prior to joining Caviar, Emanuel had been repped by production house Stadium. He was born and raised in Santa Monica, Calif., to a Mexican-German mother, benefiting from a culturally diversified upbringing that carried through his education interests. Knowing he wanted to be a filmmaker from the start, he began his career in the luxury and beauty field,... Read More