In this short promoting AICP Week 2024, our journey starts with news that doesn’t go over entirely well. An advertising creative comes home to tell his husband–a struggling fine artist/house husband–that his commercial for “cheesy bread” is going to be in “that museum in New York you’re always talking about.” Turns out he’s made it into the AICP Awards, and the news that his work will be on display at the legendary Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is met with a look of incredulity. His response is to proclaim that he thinks it’s worth making the trip to go see it.
The Journey humorously follows our hero in his quest to reach MoMA. Co-written by O Positive’s David Shane, Ian Reichenthal and Michael Clancy and directed by Shane, it was executive produced by Ralph Laucella (who is the 2024 AICP Show chairperson) and Marc Grill.
“Making a short film is different from making an ad or a branded content film,” said Shane. “It’s not just a collection of jokes. It has to have a story that sustains itself, and hopefully this does. We made The Journey as both a parody of–and a little love letter to–creatives like us who aspire to make ads that are art adjacent.” Journeys, like the creative process, can be winding and treacherous, as our hero exemplifies. Added Reichenthal, “We read a book that said you’re supposed to torture your main character, and with this piece we feel like we accomplished that.”
A metaphor for every creative’s struggle to get to MoMA, the AICP Awards and AICP Week, the pilgrimage ends with a message urging viewers to attend the upcoming AICP Week.
CreditsProduction Company & Creative O Positive David Shane, director/ writer; Ian Reichenthal, Michael Clancy, writers; Joaquin Baca-Asay, DP; Ralph Laucella, Marc Grill, Ken Licata, exec producers; Devon Clark, producer; Jason Reda, exec producer/producer. Lalou Diamond, producer; Luke Flegar, production supervisor; Alex Palmieri, production coordinator; Jermaine Sumra, 1st AD; Cody Maher, 2nd AD; Walter Pluff, production designer. Editorial MackCut Gavin Cutler, editor; Louisa Phillips, assistant editor; Gina Pagano, post producer; Marc Healy, co-mix & sound design. VFX Parliament James Mulholland, John McIntosh, VFX supervisors; Nathan Kane; James Mulholland, John McIntosh, creative leads; Adam Deutsch, Andy Wheater, Carl Fong, Keith Sullivan, Myong Choi, Siro Valente, Taner Besen, creative team; Kate Matos, Sebastien Le Coz, production team; Fred Helm, co-mix & sound design. Music Alan Wolpert, original music composer & vocalist; Janelle McDermoth, vocalist. Cast Greg Hildreth, Will Dagger, Liora Shuf, Aaron Shuf, Zuzanna Szadkowski, Eric Elizaga, Gameela Wright, Danny Wolohan, Frank Harts, Ann Troup, Blake Delong, Aubie Merryless, Demond Green.
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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