The centerpiece of Kia’s new national campaign is a :90 film titled “The Arrival” about a newborn baby hamster that is so fast, it’s impossible to catch. Set in a hospital, the film opens on a young nurse making rounds in the maternity ward when she comes across an empty bassinet. It’s revealed that the missing baby is our speedy newborn hamster, racing through the hospital in a diaper and destroying everything in its path. Nurses, doctors, orderlies and other medical staffers chase after the baby hamster in hot pursuit until it swan-dives off the roof of the hospital, utilizes a make-shift parachute and lands in the sunroof of a new Kia turbo Soul, now available with a 201-horsepower engine.
L.A.-based agency David&Goliath aimed to deliver a fresh take on Kia’s ongoing hamster-themed fare. For music, D&G chose the sonic embodiment of speed: Motorhead’s iconic speed metal anthem “Ace of Spades.” The team also worked with director Matthijs Van Heijningen of MJZ to give the narrative a true cinematic feel while dialing up Kia’s trademark in the most kinetic way possible. Then, together with JAMM VFX, they developed the character of the baby hamster and animated it within the real-world hospital environment. The film was shot with anamorphic lenses and was designed specifically to run in movie theaters.
The campaign includes :90, :60, :30 and :15-second extensions for both general and Hispanic markets across in-cinema, digital and online channels.
Client Kia Motors Agency David&Goliath, Los Angeles David Angelo, founder & chairman; Bobby Pearce, chief creative officer; Gustavo Sarkis, executive creative director; Basil Cowieson, James Cohen, creative directors; Paul Albanese, director of broadcast production; Curt O’Brien, executive broadcast producer. Production MJZ Matthijs Van Heijningen, director; Eriks Krumins, sr. exec producer; Donald Taylor, producer. Editorial Work Editorial Jono Griffith, editor; Mario Baird, exec producer; Brandee Probasco, producer; Josh Sasson, assistant editor. VFX JAMM Andy Boyd, VFX supervisor/lead CG; Jake Montgomery, VFX supervisor/lead compositor; Brian Hajek, lead compositor; Patrick Munoz, Mark Holden, Flame artists; Dylan Brown, Nuke artist; Brian Burke, Zachary DiMaria, Kristen Eggleston, Nha Ca Chau, JT Lawrence, Steward Burris, Joshua Merck, Ty Coyle, Jordan Harris, Joel Durham, George Saavedra, CG artists; Ashley Greyson, producer; Asher Edwards, EP. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke, Maya, Houdini) Color MPC Mark Gethin, colorist; Meghan Lang, exec producer. Music Editing/Sound Design stimmung Rory Doggett, creative director; Gus Koven, sound designer; Kristina Iwankiw, exec producer. Licensed Music “Ace of Spades” by Motorhead Audio Post Margarita Mix, Santa Monica, Calif. Nathan Dubin, mixer.
Director Gia Coppola Teams With Mejuri For “A New York Minute”; 1st Episode Takes Us To The Grocery Store
Mejuri, known for turning fine jewelry into an everyday luxury, has partnered with director Gia Coppola (The Last Show Girl, Palo Alto) and The Directors Bureau in Los Angeles, for the first time reimagining the brand’s story as episodic content. In a series of microfilms, co-created by Coppola and premiering following New York Fashion Week, Mejuri eschewed a typical celebrity campaign and cast us as voyeurs to a group of aspiring young women--real people, not actors--at the crossroads of their adult lives against the backdrop of New York City.
Titled “A New York Minute,” the series features five real-life friends, who include one perfectly imperfect heroine named Emma. The women celebrate ordinary moments and interactions which reveal, sometimes retrospectively, the extraordinary within the mundane. Adjacent to the brand’s own community, the 30-something year old cast includes Laura Love (Emma), Rebecca Ressler, Natalie Vall-Freed and Rozzi Crane. Mejuri’s jewelry makes an appearance as the best supporting actor.
“When I met with Gia and The Directors Bureau team, there was instant creative and personal chemistry and a natural alignment on the desire to push and blur the lines between marketing, storytelling, and the construct of what a ‘campaign’ could be,” said Jacob Jordan, chief brand officer, Mejuri. “Gia was able to push that idea into something that truly feels new and artful, with a realism and relatability that almost feels jarring. Gia was such a perfect collaborator and partner, someone I had complete trust in to be a catalyst for Mejuri’s values of celebrating women as their truest selves. I can’t wait for us to continue to tell the next chapters of this story.”
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