CLIENT
Nissan North America.
PRODUCTION CO.
Little Minx@RSA USA, Los Angeles.
Malik Sayeed, director/DP; Rhea Rupert, executive producer; Michele Abbott, producer. Shot on location in Los Angeles.
AGENCY
True Agency, Los Angeles.
Christopher Davis, creative director/art director/copywriter; Daryll Merchant, producer; Valencia Gayles, managing director.
EDITORIAL
Venice Beach Editorial,
Venice, Calif.
Bill Chessman, editor; Hunter Conner, producer.
POST/VISUAL EFFECTS
Room, Venice.
Flavio (Kampah) Campagna, creative director; Greg Everage, executive producer; Anthony Pauzie and T.J. Webber, designers/animators.
Company 3, Santa Monica.
Stefan Sonnenfeld, colorist.
Digital Domain, Venice.
Gabbie Evans, executive producer; Paul Hettler, visual effects producer; John Allardice, CG supervisor/3-D artist; Julien Meesters, online editor/visual effects artist; Dave Adams, Scott Edelstein, Hilery Johnson and David Niednagel, visual effects artists; Chris House, visual effects coordinator.
AUDIO POST
Margarita Mix de Santa Monica.
Jimmy Hite, mixer.
MUSIC
Elias Arts, bicoastal.
David Wittman, composer/arranger; Dayna Turcotte, head of production.
SOUND DESIGN
Spank! Music & Sound Design, Santa Monica.
Tim Gedemer, sound designer.
THE SPOT
"The Black Experience" (:60) "honors the African-American shifters, shakers and ground-breakers, past, present and future." The ad opens on a black-and-white photo of two African-American teen girls walking into school as armed guardsmen and local police surround them. The graphics identify the year as 1957 and the photo caption as "Thelma & Melba go to school." The camera pulls back to reveal that the photo is hanging on a wall, taking the viewer from the historical event and bringing them, through time, into the present. A group of professors dressed in gowns walk through a library, led by an African-American woman, Dr. Valerie Smith of Princeton University, who represents a successful career in academia to young people of color. She addresses the viewers: "Shift_Access." Emphasizing the progression through time, the ad continues the juxtaposition of historical and contemporary figures. An 1898 black-and-white photo of African-American sharecroppers working in a cotton field and the graphics "They go to work…" lead to modern day, where Sylvia Rhone, CEO of Elektra Entertainment Group, is conducting a meeting. She looks into the camera as it goes by and states, "Shift_Freedom." Next is a1970 photo of Gordon Parks, an early African-American photographer, which transitions into the present to show that the photo is part of a commercial shoot. Pulling back to reveal a broad view of the set, the camera finally rests on a young African-American man who declares, "Shift_Respect." He is identified as Malik Sayeed, the director of the commercial.
Spot broke in February.
