Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Stranger Things) and Will Gluck (Easy A) co-directed via Pacific Rim Films this DICK’s Sporting Goods’ spot out of Anomaly New York. Titled “The New Kid,” the ad shows us the arrival of a new Nike Air Max 270 React shoe at DICK’s. But the shoe’s (aka the new kid’s) first overnight turns out to be anything but a silent night. When the sun goes down, the fun heats up. And our store comes alive as “The New Kid” embarks on an epic journey of discovery and play, meeting new friends along the way. It’s all fun and games in this night at the store, until morning shows up and tries to crash the party.
MPC served as VFX/animation house, bringing the shoe and varied other sports apparel and equipment to life.
Director Levy said the commercial “reminded me of my Night at the Museum films with the combination of humor, wonder and magic.” He observed, “I saw the impact that those Museum movies had on audiences, the way they not only increased actual attendance at the Museum of Natural History, but in the way I saw kids looking up at those exhibits. I could see first-hand the deepened connection, the way that inanimate objects were suddenly imbued with life — with the magic inherent in asking “What if…”
Gluck said the spot was “achieved through an extensive mix of CGI animation and live-action filming; a hybrid style which I’ve become enamored of after making my Peter Rabbit films. But this spot was even more challenging, for instead of cute animals we were working with sporting goods which needed to be imbued with personalities, feelings and emotion.”
Ashley Bernes, creative director at Moving Picture Company, “Modeling, rigging and animating 46 characters; creating emotion through motion; close collaboration with a world-class production company and agency–this is the sort of work that makes us at MPC tick. Levy and Gluck brought an incredible wealth of experience in both live action and animation which proved critical in defining the rules of this film. It’s rare that a project of this scale has such a profound effect on everyone who worked on it, and I think that shows in this fun, playful and energetic film on screen.”
Client DICK’s Sporting Goods Agency Anomaly New York Mike Byrne, chief creative officer; Seth Jacobs; group creative director; Bryce Cline, creative director/art director; Jeremy Straight, creative director/copywriter; Alex Thompson, art director. Production Pacific Rim Films, Santa Monica, Calif. Shawn Levy, Will Gluck, directors; Claudio Miranda, DP; Annie Johnson, exec producer; Bryan Mitchell, head of production; Denny Kennedy, line producer. VFX Moving Picture Company (MPC), New York Ashley Bernes, creative director, VFX supervisor; Rob Hodgson, VFX supervisor; Matthew Loranger, exec producer; Chris Connolly, producer; Katherine Miccio, production coordinator; Angela Lupo, managing director; Tobey Lindback, 2D lead; Chris Bernier, 3D lead; Graeme Revell, animation lead; Renato Carone, Ruairi Twohig, Julien Aucouturier , Yashvardhan Jain, Lawrence Merrill , Chris Green, Esther Song, 2D team; Andrew Ortiz, Dan Fine, Lucy Choi, Ash Yee, Roberto Maki, lighting team; Wesley Schneider, rigging; Jemmy Molero, modeling; Jacob Fradkin, Mike Lombardo, Ross Scroble, Anthony Travieso, Joerg Volk, Yarim Machado, animation team; Roger Hom, Tyler Gibb, Andrew Brooks, Morgan Schweitzer, concept design; Neela Kumuda, Quentin Martin, Stephanie Mollett, Mark Driscoll, Salil Thapa, additional production support; Santosh Gunaseelan, Raju Ganesh S, Mark Robinson, Brendon Echsner, additional 3D support; Andre Monteiro, Vaibhav Gupta, Mohammad Asif, Sandeep B K, GopikaPriya M, Kalaiarasu Puhalendhi, S Shashi Kumar, Ullas. Thunga K, Sunil Manohas Mohapratra, Alexandre Corcoy, Helene Frery, Anbarasu Elangovan, assets; Subbaiah A, Kuntal Kanti Bera, Yeshwanth Garlapati, Gretchen Asmar, Alexandre Sauthier, rigging; Ganael Chevallier, Cedric Jeanne, Geoffroy Barbet-Massin, Andrew Price, Samir Patel, Venkatesan D, animation; Pierre Jury, Guillaume Parra, lighting; Mahendra Natha Reddy, Sugumar S, Bhushanam Mukkala, Ajeet Pratap Singh, Suresh Pitchuka, Maniraj G, Gokulakrishnan M G, Likin Ganapathi C P, additional 2D support; Ganesh Kumar S, Anirudh Kurve, Tejashwini N, Showber Shadik, Shridhar Bhat, Suhas N, Ankit Dheraj Toppo, tracking; Kris Smale, colorist. (Toolbox: Maya, Houdini ZBrush, Photoship, Illustrator, C4D, After Effects, Nuke, Flame, RealityCapture, Substance Painter, Baselight) Editorial Arcade
NHS England, M&C Saatchi UK, Director Tom Tagholm Team On PSA Highlighting The Overlooked Signs Of A Stroke
National Health Service (NHS) England has unveiled a multichannel campaign, “Act FAST,” to raise awareness of the individual signs of a stroke and get people to call 999 as soon as they suspect they may be experiencing any one symptom. The push, which is part of the ongoing “Help Us, Help You” campaign, was developed in partnership with M&C Saatchi UK.
The campaign depicts everyday situations where everything might seem relatively normal, but where there’s the sign of someone experiencing a stroke.
A key component of the campaign is this :30--directed by Tom Tagholm of Various Films--which sets up the idea that initially, a stroke might not seem like much, highlighting key symptoms: from struggling to use a paint roller, to not being able to smile when watching TV, to slurring your speech when reading a story to your grandchild. The PSA emphasizes that time is critical, ending with the line: “Face or arm or speech, at the first sign, it’s time to call 999.”
Jo Bacon, Group CEO, M&C Saatchi UK, said, “We want to ensure people take action on the first symptom, rather than waiting for more conclusive signs. To help them understand that even when everything seems normal, something serious might be happening.”
Matt Lee, executive creative director, M&C Saatchi UK, commented: “This is important work. We wanted to explore that precise moment when your world shifts, quietly yet powerfully, off its axis during a stroke. We highlight how a tiny external moment can actually be seismic—an extraordinary gear change, framed in a really ordinary way.”
Director Tagholm shared, “My Dad suffered a stroke a few years ago and was saved from the worst by acting quickly, and by the work of the NHS. So there’s... Read More