Part of Droga5's "Chapter Two" campaign for Prudential, this docu short introduces us to Jennifer McKinley, a retiree who finally gets the chance to pursue her passion and aspiration.
The film was directed by Carol Lewis, a retired postal worker who too is realizing her ambition–to become a director.
Her directorial debut also reflected the pursuits of two other contributing retirees–IT director turned composer Martin Welling and retired agency producer Jon Marias who served as an exec producer on the project.
Credits
Client Prudential Agency Droga5 New York David Droga, creative chairman; Ted Royer, chief creative officer; Kevin Brady, executive creative director; Ray Del Savio, Jerry Hoak, creative directors; Bryan Wolff, Ant White, copywriters; Daniel Sumarna, Karen Short, art directors; Sally-Ann Dale, chief creation officer; Ben Davies, head of broadcast production; Anders Hedberg, sr. producer; David Justus, technology director; Teodor Florea, head of brand strategy; Zach Foster, brand strategy director. Production Brainwashed Martin+Lindsay, directors; Carol Lewis, co-director; John Marias, executive producer; Kathy Saelee, production manager. Editorial Cut+Run NY Isaac Chen, editor; Ryan Harrington, assistant editor; Rana Martin, Carr Schilling, exec producers; Remy Foxx, Ashley Thompson, producers. Post Company 3. Music Sion Dey/Martin Welling Assets, composers.
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
