In the midst of the World Cup frenzy, soccer superstar Didier Drogba puts the game in perspective, noting that what team wins a match is transcended by bigger concerns such as the devastation caused by AIDS. As the front-and-center spokesman in a Write The Future short for Nike, (RED) and the Global Fund, Drogba urges people to “lace up and save lives,” promoting the sale of special (Nike) RED shoelaces to generate money for programs that use the love of soccer to educate Africa’s youth in helping to stop the spread of HIV, and that support the purchase of antiretroviral medication, and medical training and treatment to help prevent the transmission of the disease.
Directed by independent helmer Omri Cohen, produced by Caviar Los Angeles and shot in location in South Africa, the short film takes us to a classroom of the distant future, which looks back at 2010 as a pivotal time for access to both education and medicine in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. While official governmental agencies and institutions were slow to act back then, the slack was picked up by people who took a proactive stand, according to the classroom history lesson.
People came together, joined with (RED) and the Global Fund to raise money for education and medicine. An archival tape from 2010 shows Drogba urging soccer fans and others to get involved. He noted that all it takes to rescue those stricken with the disease is two pills a day at a cost of 40 cents. This can make their lives better and turn the tide of death and devastation that has ravaged Africa.
As it turns out, the classroom of the future was housed in an academy named after Drogba–his legacy not just being his prowess in soccer but his humanitarian advocacy on the HIV/AIDS front.
Nike came up with the concept and Cohen wrote the short. Nike co-creative directors were Jesse Stollak and Vikrant Singh.
Caviar produced the short for Nike directly. Matthias Koenigswieser was the DP, with Michael Sagol and Jasper Thomlinson serving as exec producers. Eri Noguchi and Francesca Lentini were producers. Associate producer was Chelsea Larner.
Editor was Teddy Gersten of Butcher, with post and visual effects from Eight VFX. Jean Marc Demmer was effects supervisor for Eight VFX.
Freelance artist Stefan Nadelman was director of animation. Arnold Ramm of Encore was colorist.
Music was composed by Dan Oh with additional music by Eric Aboutboul.
Cohen handled sound design. Audio post mixer was Zac Fisher of POP Sound.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles.
Nakamura Whitehouse, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years.
Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation.
EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.”
Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.”
34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More