Pete Candeland of Friends Electric directed this animation spot for Great Western Railway featuring The Famous Five, a group of adventurous young children and their dog Timmy from the series of novels by English author Enid Blyton.
Titled “Five and the Missing Jewels," this ad out of agency adam&eveDDB, London, has the Famous Five chasing a scoundrel. And they’re able to stay in hot pursuit of him thanks to the Great Western Railway transit system.
Friends Electric worked in tandem with sister VFX/animation/post shop Electric Theatre Collective on the commercial, which is the second for the Great Western Railway that Candeland directed starring The Famous Five. Once again, Candeland meticulously crafts classic painterly images true to Blyton’s series of novels, realized with an adept use of CG.
CreditsClient Great Western Railway Agency adam&eveDDB, London Ben Tollett, group executive creative director; Matt Woolner, Steve Wioland, creatives; Louise Richardson, TV producer. Production Friends Electric, Los Angeles Pete Candeland, director; Neil Riley, TD; Ryan Goodwin-Smith, Belinda Blacklock, exec producer; Sian Jenkins, Adriana Wong, producers; Kristian Antonelli, character design; Yohann Auroux, storyboard artist; Brian Raess, editor. Painting Practice Billy Stockwell, art direction & DMP. VFX/Animation Electric Theatre Collective, London Daryl Graham, Tim Sanpher, Eleonora Quario, 2D animation; Taran Spear, Alex Prod’Homme, Courtney Pryce, Max van Leeuwen, Tom Humphrey, compositors; Sergio Morales Paz, Steve Beck, Paul Templeman, Annie Rowland, Joffrey Zeitouni, Lou Thomas, Paco Rocha, Stephane Renaldi, Borja Massa, Dana DiGioia, Joao Pires, Ashley Anderson, Gregory Martin, Daniel Rico, Hillary McCarthy, and Kimon Matara, CG team. Modeling Interference Pattern (Toolbox: Maya, Houdini, TVPaint) Audio 750MPH, London Sam Ashwell, Mark Hellaby, sound design & mix; Mary-Ann D’Cruz, audio producer. Music Supervision Company Theodore Tom Stanford, music supervisor. Licensor Enid Blyton Entertainment, Hachette Karen Lawler, head of licensed content.
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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