Johan Stahl of production house REVERSE directed this marquee trailer–titled “Play: The Power of Ideas”–for the upcoming Newport Beach Film Festival out of WPP agency Garage Team Mazda.
The promotional film features a boy who is caught in the crossfire of his parents’ divorce. In an effort to escape, he retreats into the comfort of his imagination. What the lad doesn’t realize is the power that his ideas have on the world.
“By grounding the story in an easily relatable reality–a classic divorce scenario with familiar tropes and gender roles — it sets the viewer up to quickly see the disparity between the parents’ world and the boy’s world, and ultimately, express central themes around imagination, cinematic storytelling, and the theme of this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival: ‘The Power of Ideas,’” said director Stahl.
“Our goal is always to make a promotional film as compelling as the films accepted into this intensely selective festival,” said Melissa Webber, Garage Team Mazda creative director.
Credits
Client Newport Beach Film Festival Agency Garage Team Mazda Erich Funke, chief creative officer; Melissa Webber, SVP, creative director/writer; Daniel Bremmer, creative director/writer; Larry Struber, SVP, director integrated content; Jessica Mirolla, art producer. Production REVERSE Johan Stahl, director; Thibaut Estellon, exec producer/founder; Larry Gold, Luigi Rossi, producers; Shelly Johnson, ASC, DP; Michelle Thompson, costume designer; Nora Takacs, production designer; Michael Martino, 1st asst. camera; Melissa Gwizdowski, hair/makeup; Marcel Banks, FX makeup; Chuck Henrey, 1st assistant director; Gus Bechtold, 2nd assistant director/2nd asst. camera; Zac Knight, special effects; Porcelain Brisbon, production manager; Matthew Cheaton, production coordinator. Editorial jumP Editorial Erwin Frraterman, editor; Therese Hunsberger, exec producer; Natasha Sattler, producer; Roy Herbert, assistant editor; Thom Reimerink, Flame artist. VFX Ingenuity Grant Miller, David Lebensfeld, VFX supervisors; Kieley Culbertson, sr. producer; Brigitte Stanovick, Kymberly Murphy, VFX producers; Robert Cohen, VFX coordinator; Ashley Nizich, compositing coordinator; Zhe Chong, compositing supervisor; Ben Stommes, Patrick Louie, Krisztian Csanki, compositors; Anna Harari, CG coordinator; Paul Baran, Kevin Pinga, FX; Lucas Smarker, animations; Viviana Torrellas, layout. Color Company 3 Stefan Sonnenfeld, sr. colorist; Ashley McKim, exec producer; Katie Andrews, Matt Moran, sr. producers. Audio Post Juice Studios Scott Burns, mixer; Vanessa Carey, producer. Music/Sound Yessian Music & Sound Design David Gold, exec producer; Brian Yessian, chief creative officer/partner. Casting Face In The Crowd Casting Maryclaire Sweeters, casting director.
Tom Tagholm of Various Films directed this moving piece for the U.K.’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) out of creative agency MullenLowe UK.
Focused on adult social care, the public service film delves into the world of care providers and how they connect with those they help. We feel how gratifying it is to assist people in daily tasks, the value it brings to their lives--and to the lives of those who provide this special care.
It’s a special career for people who might not have previously considered the role. It’s about a fulfilling job that fulfills lives. There’s a shared, reciprocal energy that emerges from working together in this way.
Capturing this dynamic and doing justice to this human story grew out of the creatives and filmmaker spending an extended amount of time in this world--long before any scheduled lensing. At this juncture, there were no cameras, just getting to know those involved--sharing tea and chatting, driven by a curiosity about life.
And this facilitated down the line the capturing of real human stories--trying not to get in the way of the natural rhythms of these special relationships as they unfolded. The mission was to recognize and capture all this--and in some cases uncover the significant moments and feelings inside of an apparently normal day. At the same time, the role of adult special care providers isn’t sugarcoated. There are challenges on both sides of the relationship. Yet there is a magic to the seemingly mundane, practical beats in a life--getting from point A to point B, answering emails, shopping, the daily tasks where the connection felt the most vivid and inspiring. One such task was seeing a man in a kitchen, cutting an onion for the first time, experiencing the joy of cooking.
The... Read More
