BBDO NY, SMUGGLER score TV Academy honor for public service spot directed by Henry-Alex Rubin
By Robert Goldrich
LOS ANGELES --Sandy Hook Promise’s “Teenage Dream”–directed by Henry-Alex Rubin of SMUGGLER for BBDO New York–won the primetime commercial Emmy on Saturday (9/3) during the first of two Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies held this weekend at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
“Teenage Dream” features school shooting survivors from across the country who are experiencing varying degrees of physical and mental trauma, most of whom have severe PTSD, including:
- Chase Yarborough, 20: Shot six times while trying to run away from the shooter in the Santa Fe High School shooting. He currently has four bullets in his body, including his head and heart.
- Hannah Dysinger, 20: Shot in the ribcage by the bullet that killed her best friend in the Marshall County High School shooting.
- The Dworet Family: Sons, Nick and Alex, were shot in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Nick was killed in the shooting, and Alex was shot in the neck. Nick’s friend Aalayah Eastmond (also featured in the video) hid under his dead body to avoid being shot.
The state of youth mental health coming out of the pandemic and record levels of gun violence have educators, parents, students and organizations like Sandy Hook Promise deeply worried about the possibility of a “powder keg” effect. The message to “know the signs” to prevent violence is crucial for back-to-school season, as many kids report experiencing mental and emotional challenges including feelings of extreme stress, anxiety, isolation, and depression. Sandy Hook Promise provides a downloadable “Know the Signs’’ guide that highlights many of the warning signs of violence to look for and seek help.
“Teenage Dream” topped a field of nominated commercials this year which also consisted of: Apple iPhone 13 Pro’s “Detectives” directed by David Shane of O Positive with creative from Apple itself; Apple TV+’s “Everyone But Jon Hamm” directed by Wayne McClammy of Hungry Man for TBWAMedia Arts Lab; Chevy Silverado’s “Walter the Cat” directed by Jim Jenkins of O Positive for Commonwealth//McCann; Change the Ref’s “The Lost Class” directed by Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man for Leo Burnett Chicago; and Meta’s “Skate Nation Ghana” directed by a collective of four directors from production house Love Song–Daniel Wolfe, Bafic, Elliott Powers and Justyna Obasi–for Droga5 New York. (Obasi is an alum of SHOOT’s 2020 New Directors Showcase).
The win for “Teenage Dream” adds to an impressive Emmy track record for Sandy Hook Promise, BBDO NY and SMUGGLER director Rubin who earlier teamed on “Back to School Essentials” which won the primetime commercial Emmy in 2020. And in the year prior, the Rubin-helmed “Point of View” for Sandy Hook Promise and BBDO NY earned an Emmy nomination.
BBDO NY has an even longer history with the TV Academy, winning five primetime commercial Emmy Awards spanning multiple clients over the years. This dates back to the very first primetime commercial Emmy, won by BBDO NY in 1997 for HBO’s “Chimps.” The agency won again for FedEx’s “Stick in 2006. In 2018, BBDO NY garnered the Emmy for Procter & Gamble’s “The Talk.” And then came the Sandy Hook Promise wins in 2020 and this year. (BBDO’s Emmy lineage actually precedes the establishment of the primetime spot Emmy. Back in 1991 the agency won an Emmy in the Image category for HBO’s “Foreman.”)
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