Slack’s new features come to life with song and dance in “The Big Meeting,” a comedic musical that charmingly illustrates how the popular workplace communications platform makes productivity easier. Brand New School developed the creative concept by working directly with the brand.
In the film, directed and co-written by Brand New School’s Chris Dooley, a sales team uses Slack to prepare for a customer meeting, and a central character insists on making it a big production–literally–by lyrically calling for fancy graphs, searching through files and emails, and gathering the stats, and sparkling water, he believes will make the meeting successful. Meanwhile, his co-workers use Slack’s tools and features to get work done, with the film coming to a close as the lead realizes that all he needs is Slack; thus the tagline: “Productivity without the big production.”
Dooley said, “We’ve been working directly with Slack for about three years, so we have a deeply personal insight into the platform, the wonderful people running it, and their priorities. When they said they wanted to focus on productivity, we identified early on that there is a misconception that peak productivity requires non-stop work. Based on this insight, we pitched a musical that playfully illustrates the fallacy of constant work leading to optimal productivity, and Slack was on board with it; it represented the tone, voice, and strategy everyone wanted.”
Credits
Client Slack Colin McRae, VP, global brand marketing & creative strategy; Kirk Landgraf, sr. director, global brand marketing strategy; Rob Klein, sr. brand marketing manager; Jennifer Tan, sr. design manager; Brandon Wells, sr. copywriter; Marcos Calamato, sr. brand designer; Eva McEnrue, creative director/copywriter; Adam Hobbs, director, film & video; Allie (Sherratt) Toltzman, director, integrated production; Lauren Baker, creative integrated producer; Tatiana Shchekina, sr. animator, motion graphics. Production/Creative Brand New School Chris Dooley, director & executive creative director; Olmo Sobrino Carrasco, DP; Dave Muhlenfeld, Chris Dooley, writers and “The Big Meeting” lyrics & script; Emma Evelein, choreographer; Maria Nualart, colorist; Ariel Santiago, production designer; Ivan Garriga, on set VFX supervisor; Jean-Michel Verbeeck, designer; Phoebe Hsu, illustrator; Gerald Mark Soto, animation director; Oliver Wee, Anthony Kim, 2D animators; Russ Wootton, CG director; Chris Foster, 3D artist; Blake Huber, head of VFX; Mark French, Rachel Rardin, compositors; Hugh Keenan, storyboard artist; Brad Turner, editor; Ryan Rigley, assistant editor; Brendan Mills, post producer; Garret Braren, exec producer; Jonathan Notaro, chief creative officer; David Wolfson, line producer. Cast Tice Oakfield, Carolina Oliveira, Eddie Blackwell, Daiana Kosower, Daniel Buko, Shira Nimaga. Dancers Shawnee Arvelo, Staniel Ferreira, Julia Kayser, Hector Puigdomenech, Joel Mesa, Violeta Wulff. Original Music & Audio Post Squeak E Clean Jennie Armon, executive creative producer; Julie B. Nichols, creative director/composer; Chris Nungary, Surachai Sutthisasanakul, sound design & mix; Anna Garcia Lascurain, lead producer; Angelina Phengphong, sr. post producer; Tice Oakfield, Julie B. Nichols & Angelina Phengphong, vocals.
Children’s charity Barnardos is releasing this thought-provoking film created by BBH Dublin to highlight the challenges some children in Ireland face.
Barnardos knows that to understand a child’s issues takes time and work. It’s not a quick fix.
That forms the basis of the new film in the “Change Their Story” campaign, which follows a young boy recounting a childhood birthday. It begins with him telling a story of a perfect day, surrounded by friends, family, presents and a huge cake topped with candles.
The story is then retold again and again. With each blow of the candle, more of the facade is chipped away to get to the truth; that his birthdays weren’t very special. The story ends with the boy, now in his teens, opening up about his real childhood experience to a Barnardos keyworker. All laddering up to the enduring line, “Because childhood lasts a lifetime.”
BBH Dublin worked closely with Barnardos to capture the reality of the healing process on film--how it’s an ongoing journey that requires continued support. David Leon directed via production company Iconoclast.
Evonne O’Rourke, production lead, BBH Dublin, added, “We felt a real responsibility to produce a piece of work that had impact and the power to support the brilliant work that Barnardos does. We knew we had a great script on our hands, but it was crucial that the idea was underpinned by craft that protected the authenticity of the story.
“It was a fine balance to strike--the production design, edit, sound design and color grade all had key parts to play in shaping and enhancing the narrative but not in a way that would overpower or become the focal point of the film.”
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