In 2008, Andrew Renzi, then 22, lost his father to cancer. The experience inspired his award-winning short film Karaoke!, a deeply personal piece exploring the denial and anxiety associated with imminent loss. On the heels of completing his first narrative feature (The Benefactor, starring Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning and Theo James, released by Samuel Goldwyn Co.), Renzi now makes his spot debut with a City of Hope project created via IW Group and produced by ContagiousLA. In addition to helming “Above and Beyond,” done in Mandarin with English subtitles, Renzi directed “Half Man, Half Baby,” an English-language spot conceived by the filmmaker and executed with the support of agency and client. Both spots focus on Alex Tung, who survived a rare form of Leukemia thanks to an umbilical cord stem cell transplant – a procedure developed at City of Hope.
Client: City of Hope
Spot Title(s): “Above and Beyond”, “Half Man, Half Baby”
First Air Dates: (“Above and Beyond”) 3/14/2016
(“Half Man, Half Baby” TBD)
Agency: IW Group
Executive Creative Director: Stan Toyama
Associate Creative Director: Ting Lin
Senior Art Director: Stone Shih
Executive Producer: John Author
Producer: Mikko He
Production Company: ContagiousLA
Director: Andrew Renzi
Executive Producer/Producer: Natalie Sakai
Director of Photography: Patrick Jones
Editor: Patrick Murphree
Color: Company3
Producer: Alexis Guajardo
Colorist: Bryan Smaller
Audio: LIME Studios
Audio Engineer: Tom Paolantonio
The Undeniable Voice of Art
Creative Growth, the first organization dedicated to supporting artists with developmental disabilities, has teamed up with creative marketing company, John McNeil Studio to unveil its new brand. Representing 50 years of elevating the work of artists with disabilities within the arts community, Creative Growthโs new brand campaign includes a new identity and logo, new positioning, brand film and a redefined strategy centering on the โundeniable voice of art.โ Creative Growthโs evolved brand is at the forefront of a shift towards art that stands for the inherent reveal โ the power of artistic expression to bring understanding and connection to us all. The brandโs new expression includes unobtrusive color and design choices that purposely donโt compete with the voice of the artist and instead, serve as a container for the art to have a voice of its own. Executive Creative Director, Gerald Lewis of John McNeil Studio explains โWe needed to create a powerful, distinctive voice for the brand. But, it couldnโt compete with the voice of the artists because in the end, the art has to speak. It had to be simple, honest and genuine, in line with the mission of Creative Growth. Artists will spend 30 years making work, honing their craft and following their voice inside this space. We wanted to celebrate that. So, while the mark, the brand, is simple and honest, itโs also expansive and energetic.โ Kicking off the new brand campaign is a short film capturing the voice of artist William Scott as he walks through downtown Oakland and enters... Read More