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.
The Ad Council, partnering with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and AdoptUSKids, launched a public service campaign, created pro bono by Edelman, which aims to inspire prospective parents to consider adopting a teen from foster care.
This centerpiece PSA titled “The Rewards”--directed by The Hudson Dusters (Michael Kuhn and Niles Roth) via Greenpoint Pictures--spotlights real adoptive families who have personally experienced the mutual benefits of adoption. This longer form PSA (and cutdown versions) begins with a touching display of openness and vulnerability as adoptive parents reflect on their adoption journeys and their initial questions and hesitations about adopting a teen. Then, in a deeply emotional turn, the adoptive parents witness their children recounting the profound rewards of adoption in their lives. The teens speak of the love they share with their parents and how the decision to become a family is reciprocal. The campaign directs viewers to the AdoptUSKids website to learn more about adopting a teen from foster care.
