Distracted driving is currently responsible for 9 deaths and over 1,000 injuries each day in the U.S.
To address this problem and hopefully prevent more injuries and deaths, Travelers Insurance and TBWAChiatDay NY rolled out its “Unfinished Stories” animated film series last November that imagines the unrealized futures of real victims whose lives were tragically cut short by distracted driving. Working closely with the victims’ families to imagine what might have been for their loved ones, “Unfinished Stories” envisions those potential future chapters had the driver not been distracted, and the tragic accidents been avoided.
Two short films in the “Unfinished Stories” series recently debuted including this one that introduces us to 19-year old Shreya Dixit, killed in a preventable distracted driving incident.
Shreya was a gifted student and talented singer-songwriter, who was on her way home from school one afternoon when the driver of her vehicle became distracted and hit a concrete pylon. In “The Stage,” a film brought to life with animation by Psyop and directed by Jack Anderson, Shreya’s story doesn’t end there, but rather imagines her as a successful graduate student who returns to her love of music when she comes across an old song she had written herself but never had the chance to sing out loud. Shreya takes to the stage of an open-mic night, and ends up headlining a sold-out show.
CreditsClient Travelers Insurance 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; Sami Salmenkivi, global director of strategy; Andrew Nethery, editor (RedSlash); Pietra Cangialosi, post producer (RedSlash). Animation Psyop Jack Anderson, director; Justin Booth-Clibborn, exec producer; Adrianne Scott-Kemp, producer; Devon Manney, Stephanie Stromenger, Max Forward, Tristyn Pease, storyboard artists; Emma Verruno, animation director & head of art; Nico Presas, director assistant; Andrea Bacigalupo, exec producer; Danielle Kisinovsky, production mgr; Agustina Rossito, Marcela Cárdenas A., production coordinators; Max Rocamora, CG supervisor; Christian Granados, animation supervisor/animator/layout artist; Favian Fregoso, Sebastián Buitrago, Mariano “Casper” Rodríguez Calvo, Ignacio Fina, Alex Figueroa, animators; Marco Di Monaco, layout artist/set modeling; Luis de Gennaro, assets supervisor; Sofía Gariazzo, character modeling/hair development; Diego Rudnitzky, character modeling/set modeling/props modeling; Lautaro Schipizza, Sofía Gariazzo, Martin Girgenti, props modeling/dressing; Pablo Focareta, props modeling/set modeling/texturing & shading artist; Flavio Greco, modeling supervisor; Eduardo Núñez-Melgar, lead rigger; Luis De Gennaro, head of look dev, texturing & shading artist; Pedro Sciammarella, Lautaro Schipizza, Sofía Gariazzo, Alejandro Ghio, texturing & shading artists; Alejandro Ghio & Paolo Giordana, lead ltg & supervisor; Pedro Sciamarella, Juan Ignacio Casale, Natalia Urrutia, ltg artists & comp; Ignacio Arévalo, compositing supervisor; Gastón Duranovich, motion graphics; Andrés Montero Bustamante, editor; Flavio Greco, color key artist, environment design; Fernando Sawa, matte painting artist; Edino Israel, character design; Christian Galvan, IT mgr. Production Variable Steve Hoover, director; Daniel Stewart, DP; Tyler Ginter, Alex Friedman, exec producers; Paige DeMarco, head of production/supervising producer; Jon Simonetta, producer; Rocco Campanelli, production coordinator; Jeff Levine, AC/DIT; Michael Winn, gaffer; Owen Bradford, sound mixer; Melissa Martin, HMU. Editorial Cartel Chris Catanach, editor; Lauren Bleiweiss, exec producer; Joanna Hall, producer; Zach Kaigler, Dan Gutterman, assistant editors. VFX The Mill Heath Raymond, exec producer; Lauren Orban, producer; Roberto Herrera, production coordinator. Color The Mill Michael Rossiter, colorist; Evan Bauer, color producer; Nate Seymour, color assist. Music “Every Time I Breathe” by Arlissa; Elias Music Joey Netter, EP; Matt Phenix, music producer; Eric Ronick, creative director; Zach Golden, mix; Evan Wood, sound design. Live Action Track: “Sea of Love (No Groove)” Adi Goldstein, artist. Music Library FLIKTRAX.
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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