Feature filmmaker Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer, last year’s The Magnificent Seven) via production house Wondros directed “The Gift,” one in a series of three :60s making their broadcast debut during the Oscar telecast (2/26) on ABC. The other two :60s were helmed, respectively, by movie directors Marc Forster and the team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
The premise of each short film centers on “how every receipt tells a story,” with the directors being challenged to illustrate their vision for one receipt containing bananas, paper towels, batteries, scooter, wrapping paper and a video baby monitor. The three creative films are part of Walmart’s larger multi-year partnership with the Academy Awards that is aimed at highlighting Walmart’s commitment to the art of storytelling. Walmart is also be making a $250,000 donation to The Academy Grants Program for FilmCraft.
Fuqua directed “The Gift” which shows a scooter-riding youngster who prepares and then wraps a gift–consisting of several of the items on the Walmart receipt–for presentation to some unseen extraterrestrial beings. Their spacecraft beams up the gift from the lad–while also briefly elevating him towards the sky.
Agency is Saatchi & Saatchi NY.
Credits
Client Walmart Agency Saatchi & Saatchi NY Javier Campopiano, chief creative officer; Mike Pierantozzi, Wayne Best, executive creative directors; Blake Enting, head of design; Michael Craven, creative director/copywriter; Scott Bassen, creative director/art director; John Doris, head of production; Emily Green, executive producer; Danica Rosen, Zamile Vilakazi, producers; Aliaksandra Shvedava, digital producer. Production Wondros Antoine Fuqua, director; Astrid Downs, exec producer; Justin Diener, producer. Postproduction Wondros/Zero VFX Brian Drewes, exec producer, post; John Refoua, William Pasley, editors. VFX Zero VFX, Venice, Calif., and Boston Sean Devereaux, VFX creative director/partner; Mike Warner, CG supervisor; Brian Drewes, VFX exec producer; Stella Shalta, VFX coordinator. (Toolbox: Maya, Houdini, Nuke, 3DEqualizer, Mari, Zbrush) Color Company 3 Stefan Sonnenfeld, colorist. Post Sound Services Sony Pictures Studios Martin Schloemer, mix tech; Mandell Winter, MPSE, David Esparza, MPSE, supervising sound editors; Brian Smith, ADR mixer. Music GSA Music Simon Franglen, composer.
“The Contextualist,” the latest chapter in Bloomberg Media’s “Context Changes Everything” brand platform, debuts today (3/6), creatively distinguishing Bloomberg.com & the Bloomberg app subscription’s value for global business and government leaders. The new concept builds on the campaign’s foundation of context--the power of Bloomberg’s journalism to draw deft connections between its wealth of news, insights and data in every corner of the world.
Golden Globe and BAFTA-award winning filmmaker Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) directed three new spots for the campaign via magna studios in his debut helming brand commercials. This spot titled “The Price of Tea in China” takes a well-known and seemingly simple idiom and unpacks its complexity as an international business story in a 30-second journey. (The other two commercials are “Bird in the Hand” and “Rising Tides.” The “Context” campaign continues to be developed in collaboration agency Wieden+Kennedy New York.
“‘Context Changes Everything’ has become an important rallying point with consumers to remind them what’s unique about Bloomberg as we continue to double down on global news coverage for them,” said Julia Beizer, COO, Bloomberg Media. “‘The Contextualist’ moves the brand forward by personifying the prevailing ideas of intellect, curiosity and ambition. We’ve gained more than 100,000 subscribers in the time since we first launched the campaign in September 2023, and it remains an important driving element of our investment to continue growing and engaging subscribers in the years to come.”
“As my directorial debut in the world of advertisement, I’m proud of this work for Bloomberg and how it addresses the importance of... Read More
