Creative Director/Director David Mayne has teamed with <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank to raise awareness about the growing hunger crisis in Oregon. Mayne created an emotionally captivating 30-second theatrical spot, “the faces of hunger” that is being shown on Regal Cinemas screens across Oregon and in Western Washington. Regal Cinemas donated the screen time as a part of their ongoing partnership with <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank.
The spot tells the story of Emily Stoutsenberger, a hard working single mom who unexpectedly found herself without the means to buy enough food for her family when her work hours were cut. Emily was helped through her temporary crisis by an emergency food box provided through the <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank Network.
Emily’s own on camera interview and simple but elegant graphics describe how even a $10 donation can help a family in need get through a hunger crisis. In the end, we see Emily and her daughter play outside and prepare a meal together as she expresses her deep gratitude to the people who support the <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank and how it has inspired her to help others.
“The spot is important because it helps raise the awareness of the true scope of the hunger in Oregon and southwest Washington.” says <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank‘s Director of Communications, Annie Herbert.
Oregon ranks among the top states for hunger, just behind Mississippi, according to the most recent USDA hunger report and the problem is statewide. Since <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank distributes food through a network of 20 regional food banks. They, in turn, distribute food to 935 emergency food pantries, meal sites and other partner agencies. The theatrical spots are versioned and tagged with the contact information for several different food banks throughout the state.
Emily’s story is not an isolated event. Social service agencies continue to see many new faces like Emily – people seeking help for the first time in their lives – people who never thought they would need help. Due to a tough economy, distribution of emergency food throughout the <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank Network skyrocketed to historic highs during the last fiscal year and remains at alarming high levels. Each month, an estimated 240,000 people in Oregon and Clark County eat meals from emergency food boxes provided by OFB Network food pantries.
Creative Director/Director David Mayne worked in a creative partnership with Annie Herbert and her <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank team. They decided to feature a single mom and her daughter because households with children face the greatest need. In an average month, an estimated 85,000 children in Oregon and Western Washington eat meals from emergency food boxes.
The creative highlighted how even a $10 donation can make an impact. “$10 is a small but doable amount for many people who may not have the resources they once did,” said Herbert, “Every $10 donated, enables <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank to fill one emergency food box. A typical emergency food box provides three-to-five days of food for a family of four. So that $10 makes a tangible difference in someone’s life and the story that David created in this spot a testament to that.”
Director David Mayne describes his compelling reason to work on this spot that is the first one in a campaign of web and TV spots for <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank. “These spots represent a direction I want to take my work in. I consider it Sustainable Advertising. Many people think of sustainability as using recycled products and lowering your carbon footprint. Those things are important, but true sustainability is something much more profound. It’s about relationships between our work and our community. Sustainable Advertising is about promoting products and services that enrich and improve people’s lives – enhancing our community over time. We support clients like the <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank who share this vision.”
The <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank‘s CEO Rachel Bristol agrees that addressing hunger is a community effort. “Solving hunger and its underlying causes is a question of the values we demonstrate as a community. It’s how we respond to the needs of our neighbors–our children, our senior citizens, our disabled and our working poor. One person alone can’t solve the problem. But together, we can eliminate hunger. I invite you and every citizen to do whatever you can to fight hunger and its root causes … because no one should be hungry.”
David saw exactly how a community could come together during production. “Myself and our freelance crew worked on pro-bono basis on the shoot. Most everyone in our film community has been hit hard by the economic downturn but they all stepped up and donated their expertise and equipment and everyone was really fulfilled by the project.”
Mayne described the evolution of the emotionally driven spot’s creative. “When you hear statistics about hunger you don’t grasp the very human reality of those numbers. These spots literally put a face to hunger and in many ways it plays against our expectations of who is in need. There are hundreds of people like Emily out there who need our help and the only way to solve this problem is for us as a community to come together and do it. And promoting greater community is what Sustainable Advertising is all about.”
Annie Herbert agrees, “Starting with this spot and throughout the faces of hunger campaign we are able to let people know that you are <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank. It’s your donated funds, food and volunteer hours that provide a safety net for thousands in Oregon who experience hunger. Working together, as a community we can provide hope to help change lives. These donations also help us address the root causes of hunger.”
“The bottom line,” Mayne adds, “is your $10 really does make a difference and Emily is proof of that.”
To see the theatrical faces of hunger spot go to : http://www.vimeo.com/10126414
To see additional faces of hunger TV/Web spots go to:
http://www.vimeo.com/10384929
http://www.vimeo.com/10384824
http://www.vimeo.com/10384411
Credits
Client <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank, Annie Herbert, Director of Comunications
Creative Director/Producer/Director David Mayne
Agency/Production Company Very Sirius Productions
Director of Photography Russ Eaton
Sound Mixer Terry Hoffman
Gaffer Joel Stirnkorb
Grip Brian Waters
Asst. Camera Jeff Feller
Make-up & Stylist Kami Gray
PA/Grip William Maier
Art Director Kirsty Munn
Editorial Mission Control, Slater Dixon, Portland Oregon
Original Music Guy Baker
Sound Design Digital One, Guy Baker, Portland Oregon
About the <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank Network
The <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank Network is a cooperative statewide coalition of 20 regional food banks working to eliminate hunger and its root causes. <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank equitably distributes food from farms, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, individuals and government sources throughout this network. Regional food banks distribute this food and additional resources from local donations to more than 935 programs serving low-income people in their communities. Sixteen of these regional food banks are independent nonprofit organizations. The other four are operated directly by <a href="www.oregonfoodbank.org.>Oregon Food Bank.
OFB also works to eliminate the root causes of hunger through advocacy, nutrition education, learning gardens and public education. OFB is a very efficient non-profit organization. During their recently completed fiscal year, less than 5 percent of expenses went to fundraising and administrative costs. visit www.oregonfoodbank.org.
About David S. Mayne & Very Sirius Productions
Creative Director/Director David S. Mayne creates both commercials and PBS documentaries. His commercial clients include: AOL, Adidas, Chase, Electrolux, HP, Netscape, Philips, Sunbeam, Sports Illustrated, Vonage and Goodwill.
His company, Very Sirius Productions, is an innovative creative services agency that specializes in Creative Storytelling that both brands and sells. They create visual media designed to maximize SEO campaigns and support clients whose products and services improve the quality of life in our communities and our planet. www.verysiriusproductions.com
About Regal Cinemas
Regal Entertainment Group operates the largest and most geographically diverse theatre circuit in the United States, consisting of 6,756 screens in 547 theatres in 39 states and the District of Columbia as of January 28, 2010, with over 245 million annual attendees for the fifty-three week fiscal year ended January 1, 2009. Our geographically diverse circuit includes theatres in all of the top 32 and 44 of the top 50 U.S. designated market areas. We operate multi-screen theatres and have an average of 12.3 screens per location, which is well above the North American motion picture exhibition industry 2007 average of 6.5 screens per location. We develop, acquire and operate multi-screen theatres primarily in mid-sized metropolitan markets and suburban growth areas of larger metropolitan markets throughout the U.S. www.regmovies.com
