Up-and-coming NBA star John Wall of the Washington Wizards is featured in this spot in which a friend tells him how his career will progress. Wall has just gotten his first signature line of adidas shoes available exclusively at Foot Locker. His buddy explains that this achievement is the beginning of a career arc which will have him make a championship run, marry the girl of his dreams, move into a mansion and eventually retire at the top of his game.
But that’s not the end of the “process” as his friend continues to talk about what the future will hold as Wall will get a bit complacent, his agent/accountant will steal all his money, he’ll lose his girl, the mansion and have to resort to appearing in car dealership commercials. Still, there’s a silver lining in this humorous depiction of what’s in store for a pro athlete.
Jim Jenkins of O Positive directed for agency BBDO New York.
Credits
Client Foot Locker Agency BBDO New York David Lubars, chief creative officer, worldwide; Greg Hahn, chief creative officer, New York; Dan Lucy, Chris Beresford-Hill, executive creative directors; David Rolfe, director of integrated production; Anthony Curti, executive producer; Troy Tarwater, executive VP, worldwide sr. director; Brit Browning, sr. planner. Production O Positive Jim Jenkins, director; Ralph Laucella, exec producer; Marc Grill, exec producer/line producer; Eric Steelburg, DP. Editorial Mackenzie Cutler Ian Mackenzie, editor; Sasha Hirschfeld, exec producer; Nick Divers, Mike Leuis, assistant editors.
Dancer turned director Ezra Hurwitz collaborates with Ailey II artistic director Francesca Harper, featuring movement as museum pieces against the Whitney Museum of American Art’s striking architecture for this short film titled Echoes of Ailey. Commissioned to celebrate “Edges of Ailey” at the Whitney Museum, the film accompanies the first large-scale exhibition on the life and enduring legacy of visionary artist and choreographer Alvin Ailey. “Edges of Ailey” is currently on view at the Whitney until February 9.
Animating iconic images from Alvin Ailey’s 20th-century repertory, the film expands on the exhibition by constructing a visual narrative around his storytelling and influences. Set to Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place,” dancers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, and The Ailey School capture the emotional core of the company’s history--physically situating Ailey’s masterworks amongst the Whitney’s collection.
“As a child, my grandmother took me to Ailey’s Revelations once a year,” said Hurwitz. “No matter how often I saw it, the work captivated me. There isn’t one specific thing I hope viewers take away from the film--or one way to interpret its images. It’s meant to be an abstract work, like Ailey’s creations.”
Turning to his archive, Hurwitz and Harper illuminate key sequences symbolic of Ailey’s profound legacy, closing on an uninterrupted sequence from "I’ve Been Buked," the opening movement of Ailey’s legendary "Revelations." Carrying a watershed moment back to its own medium, Echoes of Ailey captures the multigenerational impact of Ailey’s work, continued by his organization. The short film first premiered on Nowness.
