As reported earlier (SHOOTonline, 9/12), Coca-Cola’s “Heist” directed by Todd Mueller and Kylie Matulick of Psyop for Wieden + Kennedy (W+K), Portland, Ore., won the 2009 primetime commercial Emmy Award.
While our initial coverage had “Heist” insights from several W+K artisans as well as John Leverence, senior VP, awards, for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS), SHOOT garnered further feedback from Mueller and W+K senior producer Matt Hunnicutt.
“The Emmy is a testament to the great creative relationship between W+K and Coca-Cola,” stated Hunnicutt. “Our goal has always been to produce work that isn’t just superb branded storytelling, but something people actively seek out and enjoy for entertainment’s sake too–“Heist” was the culmination of both, and it’s an honor for our team to receive such high recognition.”
Indeed given the changing nature of advertising where prospective consumers have more control over what they watch, the entertainment dynamic has become exponentially more important than it was years ago when a heavy media buy could ensure eyeballs. With the Emmy being based on a project’s entertainment value, the award carries arguably more heft than ever before in the ad community.
“Commercials need to be considered entertainment–they were framed in this exact context during the Emmy Awards show [the Creative Arts Emmy ceremony on Sept. 12],” related Mueller. “Typically five spots are nominated. This year there were eight which shows there is more interesting work being done, with the TV Academy placing a keen eye on entries.”
(Editor’s note: There were eight nominated commercials due to a five-way tie in the voters’ tally for fourth place. The ATAS awards committee thus had a choice of going with the top three nominations or expanding the field to eight. They opted for eight given the high quality of the work.)
To recap, W+K had three of the ’09 Emmy-nominated ads: Coke’s “Heist” as well as CareerBuilder.com’s “Tips” and Nike’s “Bottled Courage.” DDB Chicago had two nominated commercials: Budweiser’s “Circus”; and a web spot for Bud Light, “Magazine Buyer.” And scoring single nominations were: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, for Sprint/Nextel’s “Wedding”; Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami and Boulder, Colo., for Hulu’s “Alec In Huluwood”; and Ogilvy & Mather, N.Y., for AmEx’s “Airport Lounge.”
Quipping that it was a blast topping high-profile spots “with porn [‘Magazine Buyer] and Alec Baldwin [‘Alec In Huluwood’], Mueller said in a more serious vein that the Emmy represented “a fantastic accolade,” underscoring the great working relationship Psyop has enjoyed with W+K and Coca-Cola. That track record includes the lauded Coke spot “Happiness Factory” for W+K, Amsterdam, which received an Emmy nomination in ’07.
“We collaborate to find things beautiful in everyday life and then somehow turn them on their ear with something madly inventive,” said Mueller. “Wieden and Coke help us to push boundaries, to put a level of quirkiness into the work.”
As for his and Matulick’s approach to the combination animation/live-action “Heist” spot, Mueller said, “We have done so much animation over the years, our eyes are so tuned to the detail of everything from the palette to the animation to how things reflect, the quality of the surfaces, that we have developed an acuity which we bring to the live-action world. I think that helps us as we transition into larger scale live-action. As far as animation is concerned, we approach it differently. We try to steer away from what people have gotten used to, what they think computer graphics are supposed to look like. We approach our animation and live action cinematically.”
Regarding the biggest challenge Psyop faced on “Heist,” Mueller observed, “The job was complex but the hardest part was getting awarded the job to begin with. We were going up against some big names. We fought really hard and put a lot of effort into our presentation and thinking–and specifically the choreography for the domino change of events that still needed to be as clear as possible in the commercial.”
Asked what the Emmy win might do for his and Matulick’s directorial careers–which are already quite accomplished in the ad arena–Mueller said, “I’m not really sure what we can expect. Kylie and I have been directing together for 10 years. We didn’t have a meteoric rise–instead we have taken a more methodical route by being consistent and doing good work over the years. Hopefully the Emmy will give us a nice bump. We have some feature work in development now. And the Emmy recognition might add some weight to our effort in that realm.”
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More