Travelers’ campaign that honors real victims of distracted driving by bringing their unfinished stories to life through a series of animated shorts continues with a pair of films, including this one titled “Howard’s Unfinished Story: The Tree House.”
Howard Stein, 61, was a self-taught master craftsman, who delighted in making furniture and goods for friends and loved ones. He struck by a distracted driver while tending to his truck on the side of the road. In “The Tree House,” a beautifully animated short film created in partnership with LOBO studio and directed by Guilherme Marcondes, reveals a special relationship between Howard and his granddaughter, Evie, whom he never had a chance to meet before his untimely death. The film imagines a growing bond between the two of them as they craft a backyard tree house from start to finish, and become best friends along the way.
Distracted driving is a growing epidemic that kills at least nine people and injures over 1,000 people each day in the U.S. alone. Travelers discovered true stories of lives cut short by distracted driving, and worked closely with the victims’ families to imagine what might have been. “Unfinished Stories” envisions those potential future chapters had the driver not been distracted and the tragic accidents avoided.
Credits
Client Travelers Insurance Company Agency TBWAChiatDay New York Chris Beresford-Hill, chief creative officer; Walt Connelly, executive creative director; Alex Holm, sr. art director; Avi Steinbach, sr. copywriter; Chris Rowson, executive creative director/head of design; Seokmin Hong, motion graphics designer; Robyn Makinson, sr. designer; John Doris, head of production; Chris Klein, executive producer; Kelly Sutton, Sarah, Haroldson, producers. RedSlash Andrew Nethery, editor; Pietra Cangialosi, post producer. Visual Effects & Animation LOBO New York Guilherme Marcondes, director; Luis Ribeiro, EP; Gabriela Leal, producer; Clara Morelli, head of production; Helena Jardim, Rosângela Gomes, coordinators; Felipe Jornada, art director/concept artist; Fernando Heynen, Wilson Panassi Storyboard: Libero Malavoglia, concept artists; Mauricio Lobel, CG director; Eiti Sato, Bruno Sader, Marcel Nilo, Cristiano Porfirio, Nathalia Curi, Frederyco Martins, modeling; Flavio Castello, lead rigging; Alexandre Marassá, Felipe Gimenes, Lucas Magalhães Costa, Henrique Ribeiro, rigging; Leonardo Cadaval, animation supervisor; Marcio Nicolosi, lead animator; Michael Maron, Chris Mayne, Luke Randall, Caleb Lemotte, Nathalia Lemotte, Matt Sackley, Detuco, Norman Lemes, Hannry Pschera, Jerome Saravas, Jannaina Bonacelli, Raphael Vinicius, Ronaldo Brito, animators; Marinho Silva, lookdev; Bruno Sader, textures; Marinho Silva, Alexandre Agostini, Rafael Braga, render; Diogo Girondi, lead compositor; Mauricio Reis, VFX 2D; Luis Duarte, VFX/simulation; Lucas Andres Barreto, DP; Bruno Carelli, José Eduardo Ambrosio, editors; Mauricio Lobel, Leandro Pena, tracking. (Toolbox: Maya, Houdini, Nuke) Stop Motion LOBO, Sao Paulo, Brazil Lee Peffer, stop motion animation director; Adriana Oda, assistant director/line producer; Chelide Teixeira, producer; Fabiana Fukui, art director; João Cunha, set designer, modelmaker; William Pereira, José Paulo da Silva, Zsazsa Fernandes, Vermelho Steam, modelmakers; Arthur Araujo, assistant modelmaker; Zsazsa Fernandes, seamstress; Michelle Chuang, assistant art director Post/Color The Mill New York Mikey Rossiter, colorist; Evan Bauer, color producer; Nate Seymour, color assist Production Variable, New York Steve Hoover, live-action director; Daniel Stewart, DP; Tyler Ginter, Alex Friedman, exec producers; Paige DeMarco, head of production, supervising producer; Jon Simonetta, producer; Rocco Campanelli, production coordinator. Editorial Cartel Chris Catanach, editor; Lauren Bleiweiss, exec producer; Joanna Hall, producer; Zach Kaigler, Dan Gutterman, assistant editors. Music Song: “You’re My Best Friend” Andrew Simple Music Consultant Elias Music Joey Netter, exec producer; Matt Phenix, music producer; Eric Ronick, creative director; Evan Wood, sound design; Zach Golden, mix. Live-Action Track: Sea of Love (No Groove) Adi Goldstein, artist. Music Library FLIKTRAX
How do you top one of the most viral brand videos ever made? Spoiler alert: you can’t. But when Dollar Shave Club tapped Zack Seckler to direct a new campaign to revive the absurdist humor of its iconic launch video, he knew he had a rare opportunity to create something special.
The brief was simple: introduce the concept of a physical “Club” that people would love to join while showcasing Dollar Shave Club’s products and embracing the weird. From script to direction and post, Seckler--an alum of SHOOT’s 2021 New Directors Showcase--was invited to help sculpt that vision.
The result is this “Welcome to the Club” spot which invites us to join a unique, seemingly exclusive but in reality an accessible and affordable fraternity of Dollar Shave Club members. But you need to know the password or more accurately, the two-word phrase--"shave money."
“The Club” campaign brings the brand back to its humorous roots, reflecting a new chapter after being acquired by Nexus Capital Management from Unilever in late 2023. The work takes Dollar Shave Club back to its disruptive beginnings and what made the brand a viral sensation from its inception in 2011.
