Yessian's music and sound design makes "The Wish Writer" come true
By A SHOOT Staff Report
Just when a young girl is finding it hard to believe in the spirit of the holidays, she and her brother discover a pen with magical wish-granting powers. The siblings then spread the magic of giving and generosity throughout town—one wish at a time. That’s the Xmas story captured in this short film for Macy’s directed by Filip Engstrom of Smuggler for J. Walter Thompson New York.
Titled The Wish Writer, this centerpiece short leads to the story continuing digitally with a Santa letter-writing app inviting kids to write their most magical letter to Santa. The app also includes 12 games and activities that teach how the spirit of generosity makes the season brighter:
Furthermore the campaign entailed the creation of The Wish Writer product. A magical pen that is inspired by the one in the film (and meant to accompany the app), this product has been put on the shelves at Macy’s stores across the country, and is a physical invitation to the holiday campaign. Keeping in Macy’s tradition of generosity, a portion of the proceeds from all app and Wish Writer purchases will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Helping to story advance are music and sound design from Yessian New York with Brian Yessian serving as chief creative officer, Dan Zank as composer/arranger, Weston Fonger as sound designer and audio post mixer, Gerard Smerek as creative mixer/music, and Marlene Bartos as executive producer.
Creative challenge, working rapport
Regarding the creative challenges posed by The Wish Writer, Bartos, who is EP/managing director of Yessian Music, New York, related, “Creating the music for a campaign like this is a big undertaking as you need to be telling a story and to evoke an emotional response. Our aim was to create a magical experience and give the viewer goosebumps. We had to write a theme that would draw people into the story and give them the sense that they are experiencing every moment with the boy and girl. And by the end of the film, the icing on the cake is if we have created a sound that sheds a tear or two.”
Helping meet those challenges was a track record of collaborating with Macy’s and J. Walter Thompson. “We have worked for Macy’s on several occasions over the years for holiday campaigns as well as their iconic ‘One Day Sale’ campaign that had been used for over five years,” said Bartos. “This project came together fairly quickly and we worked hand in hand with the J. Walter Thompson creative team and its music producer Paul Greco to craft something that would spark something magical. This was not a typical :30 or :60 TV commercial, it all stemmed from the original three-minuite film and from there we had to re-tell the story in :90/:30/:15 formats which is not always easy when you have the time to tell a story in three minutes initially. We were fortunate enough to have Paul along side us through the project working with composer Dan Zank, sound designer Weston Fonger and music mixer Gerard Smerek in our studios to craft and finesse the sound throughout the creative process.”
In addition to Greco, the J. Walter Thompson NY team included worldwide chief creative officer Matt Eastwood, NY CCO Adam Kerj, executive creative directors Jon Zast and Andy Carrigan, sr. art director Jordan Young, sr. copywriter Carl Mallia, head of integrated production Lisa Setten, head of digital production Jennifer Usdan McBride, executive producer/broadcast Mary Ellen Verrusio, sr. producer Chad Utsch, and project manager Savannah Enright.
The Mill LA served as visual effects house. Editors were Aaron Tompkins and Christopher Mitchell of Rock Paper Scissors.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More