As we honor the 20-year remembrance of the September 11th tragedy, this film for 9/11 Day–directed by Amber Grace Johnson of production house Object & Animal for agency Wunderman Thompson–reminds us that what we have in common as human beings–our love and concern for each other–far outweighs in importance the differences and disagreements that separate us from time to time.
This #911Day, help out a friend, colleague, or stranger with an act of kindness. Any good deed, big or small, can have an enormous impact. #ShineALight
Titled “Our State of Unitedness: A Tribute for the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, the film featured the Bruce Springsteen song “The Rising,” with Yessian serving as the music house.
Credits
Client 9/11 Day Agency Wunderman Thompson, New York Taras Wayner, chief creative officer, North America; Jill Applebaum, chief creative officer, NY; Peepo David, creative director; Saedi Burke, associate creative director; Angela Barber, SVP content production, North America; Ilene Kramer, sr. content producer; Paul Greco, executive director of music & audio. Production Object & Animal, Marina del Rey, Calif. Amber Grace Johnson, director; Arseni Khachaturan, DP; Justin Beoliel, James Cunningham, Emi Stewart, exec producers. Editorial Whitehouse Post Oliver Best, editor; Jordan McAfee-Hahn, assistant editor; Lucia Villalta, producer. VFX Carbon VFX Mike Roy, lead Flame; Carmen Maxcy, Flame operator; Tara Burgoyne Elliot, producer; Matthew McManus, exec producer. Music “The Rising” by Bruce Springsteen (Universal Music Publishing) Music Yessian Music, New York Dan Zank, arranger, Gerard Smerek, creative director/engineer/mixer; Marlene Bartos, exec producer; Brian Yessian, chief creative officer; Michael Yessian, head of production. Audio Post Sound Lounge Peter Holcomb, partner/audio mixer; Rob Sayers, sr. audio mixer; Dana Villarreal, sr. producer.
After losing part of his right leg due to cancer, Terry Fox campaigned to raise national awareness and funding for cancer research by running his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada 42-km daily run, on his prosthetic leg. Fox, who died in 1981, is a national hero. His image will be on Canada’s new $5 bill.
In this two-minute video titled “Finish It,” the Marathon of Hope is recreated. It’s all done in one take, and it features an actor/marathon runner who uses a prosthesis on the same leg as Fox. CGI was deployed to make him look more like Fox. To further ensure the actor represented Fox accurately, not only did the actor and team watch and study many videos of Terry, but Terry’s brothers, Fred and Darrel, coached the actor on Terry’s running style and mannerisms. They also created a copy of Terry’s prosthesis for the actor to use for the shoot.
The message is clear. As the Marathon of Hope now marks its 45th anniversary, we now have the opportunity to “Finish It” for Fox, raising money and awareness to get a cure for cancer over the finish line, completing the work that Fox started. The public service film starts with Fox on the marathon run, eventually joined by a crowd of other dedicated runners from all walks of life who take over the race.
Mark Zibert directed via production company Scouts Honour for Toronto agency Diamond. The video features a never-before-heard version of the song “Courage” from Canadian band The Tragically Hip.
“We wanted to create a campaign that captures the magnitude of Terry Fox’s legacy while driving meaningful action,” said Peter Ignazi, chief creative officer at Diamond. “By revisiting the Marathon of Hope with such care and reverence, we aimed to reignite Terry’s mission and... Read More
