Mandalay Sports Media, Director Matt Ogens Make "Legends" For FIFA

Mandalay Sports Media (MSM) produced this series of promotional spots for FIFA around World Cup 2018. The campaign just debuted and will air throughout the duration of the competition.  The mix of 15 spots--in 60, 30 and 15 second iterations--all feature the tagline “Legends Made Here,” which was conceived by MSM.

The company won a global bake-off among agencies and production companies to get the campaign, which will air on FIFA’s rights-holding broadcasters around the world, including  Fox, FS1 and Telemundo here in the United States. FIFA asked for a campaign that could spotlight archival footage in an original way, and MSM executive producer Jon Weinbach worked with award-winning director Matt Ogens (who is repped for commercials by production house Bullitt) to craft a concept that mixes iconic archival material with cinematic, emotional footage of young, unknown adolescent players.

Their idea--showcased in this spot--was to identify character archetypes--such as “hero,” “warrior,” and “rebel”--and match those labels with both great archival shots from FIFA’s extensive archive and kinetic, hand-held footage of a diverse group of youth soccer prospects. 

Ogens has directed numerous high profile campaigns for the likes of Ford, Mitsubishi, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Chik Fil-A.  His documentary Home+Away premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last month.

Dan Marks, a six-time Emmy Award winning editor, served as the campaign’s editor.

Weinbach produced the series. James Reilly oversaw the project for FIFA.