Last year, Paramount+ ascended to the Super Bowl with a groundbreaking campaign featuring over 30 stars from film, TV, sports, and news series coming together to climb the fabled Mount Paramount.
And just this past weekend, Paramount+ returned to the mountain during the AFC Championship game with this “Bonfire” spot, a nod to the highly anticipated Halo series coming to Paramount+ later this year, with the creative having a little bit of fun with the Halo theme song. “Bonfire” stars iCarly’s Miranda Cosgrove, Halo’s Pablo Schreiber, The Good Fight’s Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski, Reno 911’s Thomas Lennon, South Park’s Cartman, Jackass’ Johnny Knoxville, NFL superstars Matt Judon and Jalen Hurts and more talent from across Paramount+ titles. The campaign is also voiced over by Grammy Award winner Tim McGraw.
Also returning to Mount Paramount to direct “Bonfire” was David Shane of production house O Positive.
Credits
Client ViacomCBS/Paramount+ Agency Droga5 NY Tim Gordon, Felix Richter, co-chief creative officer; Dan Kelly, group creative director; Sean Buckhorn, sr. copywriter; Gonzalo Navarro, sr. art director; Emilie Abel, copywriter; Sara Meinecke, art director; Jeremy Fox, executive producer, film; Forrest Holt, sr. producer, film; Adam Vevang, producer, film; Lauren Bautista, associate producer, film. Kathryn Ruocco, group communications strategy director; Emily Mulvey, brand strategy director; Soheyla Escher, sr. communications strategist. Production O Positive David Shane, director; Jeff Kim, DP; Ralph Laucella, Marc Grill, exec producer; Jason Reda, Devon Clark, producers; Maia Javan, production designer; Greg McCollum, first assistant director; Luke Fiegar, production supervisor. Editorial Arcade Dave Anderson, editor; Sam Barden, assistant editor; Sila Soyer, partner/exec producer; Ellen Lavery, producer. Postproduction/VFX The Mill Nathan Kane, executive creative director; TJ Sponzo, exec producer; Colin Blaney, Luis Martin, production supervisors; Joaquina Lopez, producer; Kshitij Khanna, VFX supervisor, 2D lead; Zach Stimell, associate producer; Tara Goodman, production coordinator; James Mulholland, Seon Crawford, CG leads; Oisin O’Driscoll, Joni Brandenburg, colorists; Brian O’Donnell, design; Tara Holland, Luke Midgley, Michael Almodovar, Noah Catan, Andrew Emmerson, Kevan Lee, Matt McDonald, Marxcelo Pasqualino, Tamir Sapir, Akhil A S, 2D team; Abhishek Jain, Bhushan Thakur, Bikash Kalita, Chatta Ravikumar, Chetan Shelar, Jijo Joseph, Jyoti Nikam, Nilesh Patil, Sachin Ranaware, Sagar Gawande, 2D paint; Amit Kumar Shukla, Amit Singh, Apurva Palkar, Ashish Bhange, Avinash Sapale, Deepak Kumar, Jaydeep Rajendra Jadhav, Karthik A, Ketan Prabhakar Gangadhare, Manu PS, Nilesh Kale, Nitin Yashwant Thorat, Rahul Jagtap, Ramchandran Kannappan, Shrikant Jadhav, Vignesh Rajendran, roto; Arsen Arzumanyan, CG previs; Matt Roach, CG FX; Aman Jain, Dinesh B, Dinesh Kanakaraj, Dongili Varaprassad, Kartik Arona, Neveen Srinivasan, Sandeep Kumar Yadav, Shravan Srikanth, Sivasubramanian, CG matte painting; Christian Peck, Michael Davin, CG animation; Arman Matin, Bingi Akhil, Krantikumar Rawat, Nishant Amin, Setty Ashok Chakravarthy, CG lighting; Sathyaraj A, Sriram Namana, Bhushan Ghurade, Santosh Ambre, Vivek Shedge, CG tracking. Music Human James Wells, exec producer; Morgan Visconti, creative lead; Matthew O’Malley, composer. Sound Heard City Stefano Campbello, Evan Mangiamele, Phil Loeb, sound designers/audio mixers; Chenoa Tarin, Ronnie Stapleton, Seth Brogdon, Virginia Wright, Zoltan Monori, assistant engineers; Gloria Pitagorsky, managing director/partner; Sasha Awn, Jackie James, exec producers; Liana Rosenberg, sr. producer; Nick DuVarney, producer; Dylan Stetson, assistant producer.
When dozens of Klick Health team members said they wouldn’t be able to hug loved ones over the festive season, the agency turned to AI and other magic to orchestrate a series of sentimental, surprise reunions captured in its “Holiday Hugs” video. The heartwarming four-minute video, benefitting the D.C.-based Foundation for Social Connection (F4SC), parallels recent findings from a Maru/Blue Public Opinion survey commissioned by Klick.
The poll found 74 percent of Americans and Canadians won’t be able to hug at least one person they wish they could over the holidays. And like those in the video, survey participants cited geographical distance and loved ones having passed away as the leading factors preventing their hugs.
“I just wish I could really squeeze her right now,” says teary-eyed New York Klickster Kari Bocassi watching her AI-generated hug with her sister Marlene, moments before she bursts onto the set for a long in-person embrace. The siblings have spent the past 14 years caring for their mother since her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, but haven’t been together for the holidays since Marlene moved to Virginia. Similarly, Toronto’s Fred Duarte gets the bear hug of his life when his brother Rico, who lives in Brazil, walks into Klick’s production studio for their first holiday reunion in seven years.
Directed by James Cooper via Cooper Films, “Holiday Hugs” also taps into the fact that hugs don’t just make people feel better emotionally, they also have numerous health benefits. According to the National Institutes of Health, hugs can lower blood pressure and boost the immune system.
“There’s nothing quite like the warmth and reassurance of a heartfelt hug,” said Klick’s chief creative officer Rich Levy. “With ‘Holiday... Read More
