A very dead and decaying CEO comes back to life at a boardroom meeting to tell everyone at his corporation that what they believe about work is made up. All of it. Made up by a bunch of guys like him–practices such as 9-5, overtime, weekend work, casual Fridays, cubicles, coming into an office. We’ve invented mobile phones, computers, cars to make our lives easier, but can’t reinvent our views on work? So the dead guy reminds them with a song that it’s not too late–if you use Upwork.
Directed by Ivan Zacharias via production house SMUGGLER for agency Alto, “This Is How We Work Now” is replete with sweeping visuals, befitting casting and acute attention to detail allowing the unique concept to reach its full cinematic glory. The film delivers Upwork’s message that the old ways are dead – quite literally.
Zacharias said, “What attracted me to this project was that it’s such a ridiculous, over-the-top story, and yet it’s based on a deep human truth. We all feel an overwhelming pressure to follow the rules and traditions of the past, without realizing we have the power to make up new rules, and new traditions. (I’ve tried and failed). But honestly the main reason why I did it is that I love shooting with dead people.”
Hannes Ciatti, founder and CCO at Alto, added, “Most of us treat the old ways of working as if they are sacred and unchangeable, but the real insight behind this campaign is that the old ways of working were entirely made up. So why don’t we as individuals make up something better? This campaign is making this point to the world for the first time–at least in terms of musicals with a dead person on the subject.”
CreditsClient Upwork Agency Alto Hannes Ciatti, chief creative officer, founder; Ed Rogers, managing partner; Matt Bonin, head of entertainment & production/partner; Tara Fray, head of strategy, partner; Jason Bagley, executive creative director; Brock Kirby, Jeff Dryer, creative directors; J. Collins, design director; Kim Cross, executive producer; Amber Wimmer, head of digital production; Julia Menassa, director of art production; Marvin Cassell, integrated production associate. Production SMUGGLER Ivan Zacharias, director; Jan Velicky, DP; Nick Landon, producer; Patrick Milling-Smith, Brian Carmody, founding partners; Alison Kunzman, exec producer. Editorial HutchCo Filip Malasek, Jim Hutchins, editors; Gino Renzulli, assistant editor; Jane Hutchins, exec producer. Color UPP Ondrej Stibingr, colorist. VFX/Finishing Parliament Music Walker Music Mix/Sound Barking Owl
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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