By Ken Liebeskind
SAN FRANCISCO --“On My Way,” Microsoft’s new global branding campaign, has started with viral videos shot in four countries that document the way Microsoft helps young people develop their careers through the training programs it runs. The videos were created by McCann Worldgroup and produced by Chelsea, bicoastal.
In “Natalie,” a 90 second film, a young woman from the U.K. explains how the Microsoft Learning Center helped her start a fashion business “and make my dream become a reality.” Natalie is shown singing in a recording studio and then sewing dresses in her shop as she discusses the impact Microsoft has made on her life.
“Testing revealed that what was impactful was when we see real people’s stories and how Microsoft helped them,” said Matthew Winks, VP/executive producer at McCann. “We made the decision to go in the documentary direction, with films about people and their potential and how Microsoft helps them in crucial moments of their lives with free classes and access to technology.”
Films were shot in the U.K., Germany, France and Australia in August and September, with the subjects found by contacting the Microsoft programs in each country. “Microsoft got us in touch with them and we did street casting among the kids and chose the ones with the most compelling stories,” said Allison Amon, an executive producer at Chelsea.
A series of films were made in each country, with footage from each shoot combined to make five-minute documentaries, which were cut into individual profiles that run 30 and 90 seconds. “If it was visually compelling enough, we made it into a short piece,” said director Chris Wilcha of Chelsea. “In Berlin, a skateboarder navigating through the city created a nice metaphor for forward motion. We deployed it in the documentary and in quick :30 form. It had a nice abstract quality. We were always balancing both, knowing it could be short form or long form.”
Wilcha shot the films with a Panasonic VariCam, “live action documentary style, not hand held. It was reality style, more composed.”
Wilcha interviewed the subjects as he shot them, trying to get them to be “philosophical about their futures.” It wasn’t easy, since they didn’t always speak English. “We tried it with a translator sitting with me in another room with an ear piece in my ear. It wasn’t easy getting an intimate conversation going with a translator.”
But the result is an extensive campaign that is playing the films online and TV across Europe and in Australia. The films play at individual sites in each of the four countries and at a general site for Europe, http://www.onmywayeu.com. The campaign isn’t running in the U.S. yet, but Winks said, “We’ll shoot more work for other countries.”
The campaign doesn’t focus on Microsoft products. “They sell lots of products–this is bigger than that,” Winks said. “It’s part of their corporate citizenship campaign.”
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More