This film for Procter & Gamble and the My Black Is Beautiful initiative features different African-American parents having “The Talk” with their kids about racial bias and how it can make life more difficult–and at times even more dangerous.
In one of this piece’s most poignant moments, a girl behind the wheel of a car insists she’s a good driver and her mom doesn’t need to tell her what to do if she gets pulled over. The girl has no intention of getting pulled over because she obeys the speed limit and the rules of the road. Mom doesn’t doubt that but she has to explain to her daughter, “This is not about getting a ticket. This is about you not coming home.”
The My Black Is Beautiful campaign is designed to spark a conversation about racial bias. Malik Vitthal of The Corner Shop directed “The Talk” for BBDO New York, with support from minority-certified consulting firm Egami Consulting Group.
Credits
Client Procter & Gamble My Black is Beautiful Agency BBDO New York David Lubars, chief creative officer, worldwide; Greg Hahn, chief creative officer, NY; Marcel Yunes, Rick Williams, creative directors; Nedal Ahmed, associate creative director/copywriter; Bryan Barnes, associate creative director/art director; David Rolfe, director of integrated production; Dan Blaney, executive producer; Whitney Collins, sr. producer; Melissa Chester, executive music producer. Production The Corner Shop Malik Vitthal, director; Anna Hashmi, exec producer; Lasse Frank, DP; Wynn Thomas, production designer; Isis Mussenden, costume designer; Jessica Miller, producer/head of production; Stephen Love, Blake Pickens, line producers. Editorial Work Editorial Rich Orrick, lead editor; Theo Mercado, editor; Jamie Lynn Perritt, producer; Erica Thompson, exec producer. VFX The Mill NY Jeff Robins, 2D lead; Sophie Mitchell, producer; Rachael Trillo, exec producer. Music Pulse Music NY Julia Piker, composer; Dan Kuby, composer/exec producer; Steve Grywalski, producer. Sound Design Trinite Studios Brian Emrich, sound designer. Audio Post Heard City Phil Loeb, Keith Reynaud, mixers; Sasha Awn, Andi Lewis, Jackie James, producers; Gloria Pitagorsky, managing director. Color Company 3 Clare Movshon, Alex Lubrano, producers; Sofie Borup, colorist. Multicultural Strategic Communications Egami Consulting Group
For World Cancer Day (Feb. 4), Gustave Roussy, a treatment center in France ranked number one in Europe and number four in the world in the fight against cancer, is once again speaking out through film. “Lucie” retraces the life of a young woman, from her birth, her joys, her encounters and her trials, in particular the illnesses she faced or may have faced (if not vaccinated) during her life but which did not kill her thanks to advances in science and medicine, including the discovery of her rare cancer at the age of 36.
Conceived by Publicis Conseil and directed by Jaco Van Dormael via production company Hamlet, “Lucie” takes the gamble of using almost exclusively scientific images to tell this story (scanners, MRIs, microscopes, 3D). It highlights the beauty of these images beyond their raw meaning, the poetry that can emerge from them to pay tribute to all the researchers, doctors and specialists who over the centuries have transformed what were once serious illnesses into benign ones, saving many lives in the process. Like most of us, Lucie lives her life without even thinking about all the times when science and medicine have enabled her to go on living.
“In a world where cancer affects one person in two and more and more young adults, we want to show that the disease is a stage in life from which the majority of sufferers are now recovering, thanks to scientific progress. Lucie’s story is the story of thousands of patients. This film makes Gustave Roussy, its doctors, researchers and professionals part of the history of major scientific advances,” said Professor Fabrice Barlesi, CEO of Gustave Roussy.
