ARNOLD NYC OFFERS POIGNANT TRASH TALK
We open on a young man athletically blocking a shot in a pick up basketball game. We cut to the man facing the camera and declaring with gusto, “Welcome to my ‘block’ party. Glad you could make it!” Our next b-ball prodigy is a young woman in a gym, smoothly sinking two points over her opponent before looking back into the camera to declare, “The only triple-double you get– comes with fries.” Yet another states, “Last time you blocked someone, you were online,” followed by a young man rhyming, “I can do this all day. Your moves are just gay.”
Each of the other previously seen bragging players, plus NBA stars Grant Hill and Jared Dudley, instantly make buzzer sounds, followed by Hill stating, “Using ‘gay’ to mean dumb or stupid is not cool.” Others echo, “Not cool.” Dudley agrees, “Not in my house, not anywhere.” Hill notes, “It’s not creative.” Dudley says, “It’s offensive to gay people. And Hill concludes, “you’re better than that.” We cut to black with the super, “ThinkB4YouSpeak.com,” and the Ad Council, NBA and GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) logos closing out the PSA.
Tilted “Wordplay,” this :30 was directed by Evan Bernard of Friedman 360, NY, and edited by Merritt Duff of Cutting Room, NY, for Arnold NYC. Joe DeSalvo was the DP. The Arnold creative ensemble included chief creative officer John Staffen, group creative directors Gary Rozanski and Thom Baginski, associate creative director Archie Bell, copywriter Michael Santoro and producer Brian Schierman.
NO MONEY BUSINESS AT BBDO BBDO has agreed to take PETA’s “The Great Ape Pledge” and will no longer use monkeys, apes, baboons or chimps in films. To further the effort, BBDO New York conceived an additional initiative to help educate advertisers and agencies about the harm done to monkeys, apes, baboons and chimps when used in films. The agency has installed an auto correct program on all its computers. Whenever words such as “monkey” or “ape” or “chimpanzee” are typed, the rest of a sentence appears automatically: “–who was taken from his mother when only weeks old to act in front of the camera. During his training, the ape will be kicked, punched, and beaten to perform what you are just about to write.”
To learn more, watch the following video: http://www.NoMonkeyBusinessOn.Tv
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS….
Elliott Seaborn has joined Arnold Worldwide as executive VP/executive director. Seaborn will play a leadership role in the account management group, providing digital-business counsel to Arnold’s clients and helping shape the evolution of the account management practice. He is based in the network’s Boston office and reports to Pam Hamlin, managing partner and president of Arnold Boston. Most recently, Seaborn held a sr. VP role at Digitas, where he worked for over 10 years. Under his watch, he grew the biggest piece of the General Motors business by nearly 300%. He was also instrumental in winning several pieces of significant new business, including Aflac….Branding and advertising agency NYCA in Solana Beach, Calif., has hired Josh Forstot as associate creative director and digital creative technologist. He reports to VP/associate creative director Dave Huerta. Forstot will work across all clients as NYCA’s digital creative lead. Previously, Forstot was founder/creative director of Hermosa Beach, Calif. agency HYFN. Earlier he was director of digital marketing at Skechers USA…
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More