Originally in response to the rise of anti-Asian violence, the team at Wieden+Kennedy created a thought-piece film, “Call It COVID,” in 2020. It began as a self-initiated project with no client, no brief, and no budget–and became a Cannes Lions award-winning film that earned millions of dollars in donated support from a number of partners and influencers.
Now this time around, W+K–again sans a client–has released a follow-up film titled “The Myth.” In this case the myth is that of The Model Minority, a false narrative weaponizing Asian Americans against other ethnic groups.
Like “Call it COVID,” the new film is born from the Asian experience but it bridges the conversations that are currently happening in silos. Conversations about what it means not just to be Asian but to be Black. Latinx. Indigenous. American. By acknowledging the thing that affects us all: The Model Minority Myth. The Model Minority Myth has told us not only what Asian Americans are, but what other racial and ethnic groups are by comparison.
In a time of unprecedented unrest and uprooting, this film dispels the myth keeping us apart, and reclaims what it has deprived us of: belonging. Belonging to a country. Belonging to a community. Belonging to ourselves. It poses the idea of belonging not as something to be fought and won, but instead, something to be offered and accepted. Between each other, and within ourselves.
“The Myth” was directed and shot by Jackie Bao via Biscuit Filmworks.
CreditsAgency W+K Portland Titania Tran, creative director, writer & voice; Dan Koo, creative director, art director; Hayley Goggin, Mimi Munoz, executive producers; Mauricio Granado, sr. producer lead; Jason Kreher, house mother; Orlee Tatarka, head of production; Alicia Kuna, studio manager; Hui Chen Ou Yang, sr. studio designer. Production Biscuit Filmworks Jackie Bao, director/DP; Isaiah Seret, creative director; Shawn Lacy, partner/managing director; Jordana Freydberg, exec producer; Sean Moody, head of production; Quentin Lee, Stanley Yung, producers; Han Yan, production supervisor; Michael B. Williams; assistant production supervisor; Aaron Shershow, unit production manager; Hanrui Wang, production designer. Editorial Joint JB Jacobs, editor; Ling Chua, associate editor; Kathleen Russell, exec producer; Catherine Liu, head of production; Jenny Greenfield, sr. post producer. VFX/Finish Joint Stefan Smith, VFX CD/lead Flame; Kevin Alfoldy, finish artist; Nirad “bugs” Russell, exec producer; Catherine Liu, head of production; Zai Outlaw, VFX coordinator. Music Supervision Walker Sara Matarazzo, Stephanie Pigott, exec producers; Danielle Soury, sr. producer; Wilson Trouve, composer. Cartoon Music Company & Additional Music Score A Score Jordan Passman, owner/EP. Audio Joint Natalie Huizenga, audio mixer and composition & arrangement; Candace Mortier, associate audio engineer; Kathleen Russell, exec producer; Catherine Liu, head of production; Louise Woodward, audio producer, and composition & arrangement. Telecine Company 3 Tom Poole, colorist; Kevin Breheny, telecine producer. Found Footage Center for Asian American Media: Memories to Light; KFMB CBS 8
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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