In this year’s holiday film, the main character of Chick-fil-A’s 2019 animated holiday piece, Sam, returns to help restore the missing spark in her town. With a little help from a new friend, she discovers she can be a source of hope and inspiration and light the way for her community. The driving message of the animated film and campaign is that we can all make a difference in the lives of those around us by offering encouragement to each other.
Marie Hyon of Psyop directed the short, titled “The Spark,” for McCann.
The new two-minute film launches digitally on Nov. 17 and on Thanksgiving Day on NBC.
Credits
Client Chick-fil-A Agency McCann Sean Bryan, Tom Murphy, co-chief creative officers, North America; Larry Platt, Danny Rodriguez, EVPs, executive creative directors, NY; Sherrod Melvin, group creative director, NY; Tom Weingard, creative director, NY; Kathy Love, SVP, executive integrated producer; Julianna Katrancha, SVP, group strategy director; Justin Luk, strategy director; Andre Bittar, Estefanio Holtz, creatives; Cali McGovern, jr. copywriter; Ralph Vibar, Jillian Nedd, jr. art directors; Eric Johnson, SVP, executive music producer, integrated production; Dan Gross, integrated music producer; Rachel Aronson, VP, strategy director. Production/Animation Psyop Marie Hyon, director; Adina Sales, Eve Strickman, exec producers; Amy Fahl, Andrew Rindlaub, producers; Briana Franceschini, lead technical director; Pat Porter, lead 3D animator; Zed Bennett, lead rigger; Matthias Bauerle, 2D lead. Audio Decibel Studios Tom Goldblatt, sound design & sound engineer; Adam Zeitlen, sr. producer. Music Squeak E. Clean Studios Jesse Watt, composer; Zac Colwell, creative director; Deb Oh, exec producer.
After losing part of his right leg due to cancer, Terry Fox campaigned to raise national awareness and funding for cancer research by running his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada 42-km daily run, on his prosthetic leg. Fox, who died in 1981, is a national hero. His image will be on Canada’s new $5 bill.
In this two-minute video titled “Finish It,” the Marathon of Hope is recreated. It’s all done in one take, and it features an actor/marathon runner who uses a prosthesis on the same leg as Fox. CGI was deployed to make him look more like Fox. To further ensure the actor represented Fox accurately, not only did the actor and team watch and study many videos of Terry, but Terry’s brothers, Fred and Darrel, coached the actor on Terry’s running style and mannerisms. They also created a copy of Terry’s prosthesis for the actor to use for the shoot.
The message is clear. As the Marathon of Hope now marks its 45th anniversary, we now have the opportunity to “Finish It” for Fox, raising money and awareness to get a cure for cancer over the finish line, completing the work that Fox started. The public service film starts with Fox on the marathon run, eventually joined by a crowd of other dedicated runners from all walks of life who take over the race.
Mark Zibert directed via production company Scouts Honour for Toronto agency Diamond. The video features a never-before-heard version of the song “Courage” from Canadian band The Tragically Hip.
“We wanted to create a campaign that captures the magnitude of Terry Fox’s legacy while driving meaningful action,” said Peter Ignazi, chief creative officer at Diamond. “By revisiting the Marathon of Hope with such care and reverence, we aimed to reignite Terry’s mission and... Read More
