“Love, Lawyers & The Government” – created via TBWAChiatDay New York, directed by Speck + Gordon, and edited by Graham Turner – has been honored with the Grand Shark at the 2021 Shark Awards International Creative Festival in Kinsale. The fest, with a 60 years history of distinction in advertising, short film, music video, and design, bestowed the honor in the Branded Content – International (Fiction Under 5 Mins) category. In December 2021, the project was selected by a jury of up-and-coming creatives as the Best Brand Film winner at the inaugural Campaign US BIG Awards, in New York City, among other recent honors. The PSA supports Family Equality, whose mission is to advance legal and lived equality for LGBTQ+ families.
Turner was at Cabin Edit when he cut the project. He joined bicoastal Union Editorial as editor/partner in April 2021, where his recent work includes projects for HP, NFL, Nissan, and Toyota.
“Love, Lawyers & The Government,” employs a touch of humor to convey the circuitous journey to parenthood for many LGBTQ+ families. In the PSA, a child poses the “where do babies come from?” question to his adoptive dads. Though one dad tries to keep it simple, what rolls out is a littany of legalized discrimination, immense bias, and disproportionate financial outlays that ultimately requires clarification from friends and the couple’s lawyer.
“I was excited to contribute to a spot with such an important message,” said Turner. “Shining a light on some of the hoops the LGBTQ+ community needs to jump through to have a family is a necessary step toward breaking down and streamlining the process.”
View the video HERE.
Notes from the creators read as follows:
“LGBTQ+ family protection isn’t a federal law. And LGBTQ+ people looking to start or grow their families face legal discrimination, massive financial burdens, and social bias at every step of the process. It takes time, money, and energy for these people to become parents, but most of all, it takes courage.
It’s a monumental struggle for these parents-to-be. It’s a struggle that Family Equality, an organization dedicated to helping these families and fixing the problem, is working to solve. But it’s a struggle that many, many Americans simply are not aware of.
We approached this serious topic in an entertaining way in order to capture and hold people’s attention. And to explain a complicated story as simply as possible. So we took a familiar parenting scenario, and told a new version. Every line of dialogue in the entire film is true. And as the dad told the story to his kid, our film engaged with and explained the issue to our audience.”
About Union
Union Editorial has offices located in Los Angeles, New York, Austin, and London, where it maintains an alliance with Marshall Street Editors. The company also develops and produces original content. Other Union companies include Hunter, which provides finishing services, vfx, graphics and mix for commercials, features and gaming. Union is presided over by Partner/Managing Director Michael Raimondi alongside Executive Producer Joe Ross and Head of Production Dani DuHadway in LA, Partner/Managing Director Caryn Maclean alongside Executive Producer Melissa Lubin in NY, Executive Producer Vicki Russell in Austin, and Logan Aries, Executive Producer of Hunter. The Union roster is comprised of Partner/Editors Jim Haygood, Einar Thorsteinsson, Jay Friedkin, Sloane Klevin, Marco Perez, Merritt Duff, Graham Turner, and Chris Huth, editors Daniel Luna, Laura Milstein, Jason Lucas, Karen Kourtessis, Kevin Ray, Nicholas Wayman-Harris, Rachael Waxler, Zach Kashkett, Andrea MacArthur, Amanda Perry, Justin “Q” Quagliata, and Rick Lawley, as well as select projects with Teddy Gersten, Tim Thornton-Allan, Matt Chesse, John Mayes, Spencer Ferszt, Paul Plew and the Marshall Street roster.
