Johan Stahl of production house REVERSE directed this marquee trailer–titled “Play: The Power of Ideas”–for the upcoming Newport Beach Film Festival out of WPP agency Garage Team Mazda.
The promotional film features a boy who is caught in the crossfire of his parents’ divorce. In an effort to escape, he retreats into the comfort of his imagination. What the lad doesn’t realize is the power that his ideas have on the world.
“By grounding the story in an easily relatable reality–a classic divorce scenario with familiar tropes and gender roles — it sets the viewer up to quickly see the disparity between the parents’ world and the boy’s world, and ultimately, express central themes around imagination, cinematic storytelling, and the theme of this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival: ‘The Power of Ideas,’” said director Stahl.
“Our goal is always to make a promotional film as compelling as the films accepted into this intensely selective festival,” said Melissa Webber, Garage Team Mazda creative director.
Credits
Client Newport Beach Film Festival Agency Garage Team Mazda Erich Funke, chief creative officer; Melissa Webber, SVP, creative director/writer; Daniel Bremmer, creative director/writer; Larry Struber, SVP, director integrated content; Jessica Mirolla, art producer. Production REVERSE Johan Stahl, director; Thibaut Estellon, exec producer/founder; Larry Gold, Luigi Rossi, producers; Shelly Johnson, ASC, DP; Michelle Thompson, costume designer; Nora Takacs, production designer; Michael Martino, 1st asst. camera; Melissa Gwizdowski, hair/makeup; Marcel Banks, FX makeup; Chuck Henrey, 1st assistant director; Gus Bechtold, 2nd assistant director/2nd asst. camera; Zac Knight, special effects; Porcelain Brisbon, production manager; Matthew Cheaton, production coordinator. Editorial jumP Editorial Erwin Frraterman, editor; Therese Hunsberger, exec producer; Natasha Sattler, producer; Roy Herbert, assistant editor; Thom Reimerink, Flame artist. VFX Ingenuity Grant Miller, David Lebensfeld, VFX supervisors; Kieley Culbertson, sr. producer; Brigitte Stanovick, Kymberly Murphy, VFX producers; Robert Cohen, VFX coordinator; Ashley Nizich, compositing coordinator; Zhe Chong, compositing supervisor; Ben Stommes, Patrick Louie, Krisztian Csanki, compositors; Anna Harari, CG coordinator; Paul Baran, Kevin Pinga, FX; Lucas Smarker, animations; Viviana Torrellas, layout. Color Company 3 Stefan Sonnenfeld, sr. colorist; Ashley McKim, exec producer; Katie Andrews, Matt Moran, sr. producers. Audio Post Juice Studios Scott Burns, mixer; Vanessa Carey, producer. Music/Sound Yessian Music & Sound Design David Gold, exec producer; Brian Yessian, chief creative officer/partner. Casting Face In The Crowd Casting Maryclaire Sweeters, casting director.
Tonal, the strength training system combining revolutionary digital weight technology with personalized, AI-powered coaching, has introduced its new brand platform, “Power Progress,” and advertising campaign developed in partnership with Quality Experience (QX), the creative independent agency founded by Ari Weiss.
Directed by Aube Perrie of Pulse Films (UKMVA Director of the Year 2023 & 2024, UKMVA Best New Director 2021 and Webby’s Best Music Video 2022) with visual effects from The Mill NY, this brand film contrasts how the heavy chains of the past still shape how we work out today, with Tonal representing the future of fitness.
In addition to the brand film, the campaign includes cutdowns ranging from 90 seconds to 15 seconds, with even the shortest spot clearly connecting the old and the new. French director Perrie’s body of work includes music videos for Harry Styles, Megan Thee Stallion, and RM’s “LOST!”
“Sports marketing has had a long history of breakthrough advertising,” said QX creative chairman Weiss. “We wanted to launch with an idea as disruptive as the product itself. Not an easy bar to live up to. Like any great idea the insight is dead simple but the execution is unexpected and riveting. Great sports marketing doesn’t happen without great sports marketers and the team at Tonal shared our ambition to make the marketing as disruptive as the product.”
