City Films’ award winning filmmaker/director Sandy Smolan, working in conjunction with Creative Director John Di Minico, has completed production on two, 30-second PSA spots which were shot in Tanzania. The spots, sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, help to promote a 20-year effort in that country to develop a safe syringe that has the potential to save millions of lives annually.nnProduced in conjunction with “LIFESAVER,” a non-profit organization based in the UK, the the City Films/Sandy Smolan HP PSA spots were shot concurrently with Smolan’s documentary, “1.3 Million Reasons to Re-Invent the Syringe.” Smolan also directs features and television series, and is exclusively repped commercially by City Films, Hollywood.nnnTo view this PSA online, click here.nnnTo view this PSA online, go here.nnThe high-energy montage PSA spot entitled “The Code” focuses on an innovative short code text messaging system developed by HP to promote an innovative health care sponsored by The Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Lifesaver. This spot is a direct "call to action" to the people of Tanzania to send a text whenever they receive a safe injection. nnIn “The Code,” we hear the VO announcer say, “These five numbers are saving lives in East Africa every day.” A montage of the digits “15055” is seen, and the announcer declares, “HP is helping assure that all injections in East Africa are safe and sterile, by developing an innovative text messaging system that uses a simple five digit code that connects patients and health care workers,” as we see a young boy receive an injection at his local clinic. The VO continues, “With the ‘Lifesaver’ single use syringe, every time.” Five soccer players wearing the important numbers “15055” jump into the air, and a montage of natives repeats the refrain “One, five, zero, five, five” several times. The VO concludes, “HP, using the power of information technology to help people connect and create a better world.” nnIn the PSA entitled “Phone,” we see a Tanzanian woman awaken her sleeping son, as the two then take a walk through their village to their local clinic. The child receives an injection, then takes his mother’s cell phone and presses the digits “15055.” The VO announcer again states, “HP has developed an innovative text messaging system that uses a simple five digit code to unite patients and health care workers with a ‘Lifesaver’ single use syringe, assuring that all injections are safe and sterile, every time.” nnRegarding the HP PSAs, City Films’ co-founders Sheila Tighe and Josie Leonard said, “We were honored to have worked with HP by helping produce these important messages for the residents of Tanzania, a country that has, for too long, had to contend with people sharing used needles and spreading disease needlessly.”nnAdds Smolan, “Shooting these spots was a remarkable experience. We were filming in remote villages, places without running water or electricity, yet sill almost everyone had cell phones! Technology, like the text messaging system that HP developed for use in East Africa, is connecting people in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. These spots truly capture the far-reaching impact technology is having on lives across the world.”nnSaid John Di Minico, Creative Director for the spots, “Our goal was to be informational, instructional and inspirational. We felt it was essential to keep the spots very human – to inform and inspire the people of East Africa to participate in the program – while also integrating the technology and acknowledging HP’s tremendous contribution to this project."nnCredits for Two New HP PSA SpotsnnDirector: Sandy SmolannExecutive Producer: Sheila Tighe & Josie LeonardnProducer: Bill MedskernCreative Director: John Di MiniconEditorial: Rock Paper ScissorsnMusic: Nylon StudiosnVisual Effects: @52nnAbout The Effort Behind Safe Syringes In TanzanianAfter learning that the leading cause of AIDS and Hepatitis would be through syringe transmission, Lifesaver founder Marc Kosca redesigned existing syringes so that they can’t be reused. Though the device has proven to be remarkably effective in stopping the spread of infectious diseases, he has had to wage a twenty-year battle again the major medical supply manufacturers and government bureaucracies in order to get the syringes accepted world-wide. With the decision this month by the government of Tanzania to adopt the AD syringe, he’s now on the verge of achieving that goal.nnAbout Sandy SmolannAn award-winning director whose work spans features, commercials, television, documentaries and web series, Sandy Smolan’s critically acclaimed debut feature film “Rachel River” was nominated for the “Grand Jury Prize” at the Sundance Film Festival, and also took awards for “Best Cinematography” and a “Special Jury Prize” for actress Viveca Lindfors. Smolan’s documentary “12 Stones”, about the remarkable transformation of a group of illiterate women in southern Nepal, recently won the “Jury Prize” for “Best Short Documentary” at the Tallahassee and Newport Beach Film Festivals. nnSmolan recently directed the ten-part web series “In Gayle We Trust” for American Family Insurance on NBC.com, and the web series “First Day” for K-Mart. He also just completed producing and directing three short films for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and four short films about sustainability development in India, Georgia, Rwanda and Peru for Heifer International.nnIn the area of Corporate Social Responsibility, Smolan produced and directed seven films for the Tech Museum sponsored by Intel, Microsoft, Applied Materials, BD Biosciences and Nokia. He was a featured speaker at the 2010 EG Conference in Monterey, CA, and the 2010 INK Conference in Association with TED, in Lavasa, India.nnFor more information about Sandy Smolan, please see www.cityfilmsonline.com.nnAbout CITY FILMSnCity Films is an award-winning production company based in Hollywood, specializing in producing commercials, branded content, corporate social responsibility projects and documentaries for various media platforms. The company’s diverse and talented group of filmmakers combine current broadcast-quality production styles and techniques with great storytelling to deliver the message of its clients, which range from advertising and creative agencies, to non-profits, organizations, and government agencies around the world. nnFor more information, please call 310/567-8518 or visit www.cityfilmsonline.com.
Dan Harary The Asbury PR Agency Beverly Hills 310/859-1831 Contact Dan via email
Liz Charky Directs a Playful and Reflective Video For Henry Hall’s “Tiny Door”
Directed by Liz Charky, the music video for Henry Hall’s ‘Tiny Door’ is a playful and profound exploration of the song’s intriguing perspective on love. Silly moments and serious heartbreak are skillfully weaved together in a series of cheeky, dreamy, profound, and sometimes psychedelic scenes. “I am a huge fan of love songs that have an unusual, hyper-specific perspective on love,” says Hall. “That’s what I wanted to do with ‘Tiny Door.’ It’s about loving someone unconditionally while recognizing that love is something that isn’t always straightforward — I think that’s something we all attempt to come to terms with in our lives. I thought it was a unique yet universal detail about love and therefore an intriguing subject matter for a song. Even though the song is a ballad at its core, it still has a lighthearted sense of humor to it — that’s really portrayed well by Liz, and Ellin Aldana, our cinematographer.” Charky explains, “When I first listened to the song, I felt it was a love song full of longing with a kind of wishful melancholy. As I spoke with Henry about his intention behind the lyrics and sound, I was assured that I'd need to explore heartbreak in a nuanced way – with a degree of levity and playfulness. For me, falling in and out of love runs the full course of human expression. Love and heartbreak can be so emotionally intense and sometimes lonely, other times quite goofy or liberating. In developing the concept, I focused on both the literal and figurative ways that falling in and out of love might look like. So, you see Henry and co-star Franny Arnautou falling, flying, dancing, raging, winking, smiling, and... Read More