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Nametag Films/Chris Rupert, recently completed a content video for the American Heart Association.

When Steve Grimshaw, CEO of the nation’s largest collision repair company, was named chair of the 25^th Anniversary of the Côtes du Coeur event benefitting the American Heart Association, he inherited the enormous job of producing all of the event’s marketing materials including signage, digital ads, print brochures, programs, menus, invitations and even a survivor’s video.  He turned to his longtime ad agency, Johnson & Sekin, to provide these materials. Little did they know that the lead creative director on the project had her own personal heart story.

Born with extensive nerve damage to the lower half of her heart, Shannon would become the youngest person on the face of the planet to receive a pacemaker, initially placed outside her tiny body. Throughout Shannon’s life, she’s required numerous surgeries; moving the pacemaker when it could fit inside her body, replacing batteries, and getting newer models. 

Johnson & Sekin knew the perfect director to tell her story for the event, was Chris Rupert with Nametag Films.  “Shannon had worked with Chris on numerous occasions and we had complete confidence in his unique talents to capture the story of her life,” said agency Owner and Executive Creative Director, Chris Sekin.

Nametag quickly assembled a top-notch production crew that would travel to Shannon’s hometown, Bastrop, Texas, then to Austin, back to Dallas and finally to The Colony, Texas. “In order to create something truly compelling, I knew I had to talk to the people who had seen her endure it all,“ said Rupert. “And it was important to treat these very personal and emotional interviews with the utmost respect.”

A 20+ year veteran of the ad industry, Shannon’s story not only inspires and puts perspective on the viewer’s life, but helped the American Heart Association break all previous records through pledges and donations the night the video was shown at the event in Dallas