Ad agency WONGDOODY’s “Be Watching” campaign for the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) includes this :60 trailer that wryly explores the delineation between surveillance and voyeurism. In the process, audiences are encourage to become the watchers instead of the watched. The trailer uses classics like Blue Velvet and recent hits like Boyhood to show that SIFF is an ideal place to experience the exhilarating rush of not just seeing the world but seeing it through someone else’s eyes.
The trailer was directed by Matthew J. Clark and Lindsay Daniels of StraightEIGHT Films.
Credits
Client Seattle International Film Festival Agency WONGDOODY Tracy Wong, executive creative director; Mark “Monkey” Watson, creative director; Patrick Moore, art director; Tim Koehler, sr. writer; Leigh Eckert, broadcast producer; Barbara Wilson, project manager. Production StraightEIGHT Films Matthew J. Clark, director/DP; Lindsay Daniels, director; Craig Stevens, producer; Erin O. Kay, production designer; Lee Gardner, editor; Wesley Slover, Brendon Williams, composers; Charlie Bartlett, visual effects. Post Lightpress Jeff Tillotson, colorist. Music Clatter & Din Eric Johnson, Sam Gray, sound designers/mixers; Rachel Komenski, exec producer.
When dozens of Klick Health team members said they wouldn’t be able to hug loved ones over the festive season, the agency turned to AI and other magic to orchestrate a series of sentimental, surprise reunions captured in its “Holiday Hugs” video. The heartwarming four-minute video, benefitting the D.C.-based Foundation for Social Connection (F4SC), parallels recent findings from a Maru/Blue Public Opinion survey commissioned by Klick.
The poll found 74 percent of Americans and Canadians won’t be able to hug at least one person they wish they could over the holidays. And like those in the video, survey participants cited geographical distance and loved ones having passed away as the leading factors preventing their hugs.
“I just wish I could really squeeze her right now,” says teary-eyed New York Klickster Kari Bocassi watching her AI-generated hug with her sister Marlene, moments before she bursts onto the set for a long in-person embrace. The siblings have spent the past 14 years caring for their mother since her Alzheimer’s diagnosis, but haven’t been together for the holidays since Marlene moved to Virginia. Similarly, Toronto’s Fred Duarte gets the bear hug of his life when his brother Rico, who lives in Brazil, walks into Klick’s production studio for their first holiday reunion in seven years.
Directed by James Cooper via Cooper Films, “Holiday Hugs” also taps into the fact that hugs don’t just make people feel better emotionally, they also have numerous health benefits. According to the National Institutes of Health, hugs can lower blood pressure and boost the immune system.
“There’s nothing quite like the warmth and reassurance of a heartfelt hug,” said Klick’s chief creative officer Rich Levy. “With ‘Holiday... Read More
