The directing duo of Pat Heywood and Jamil McGinnis rolled out this short film created for the seventh season of Motionpoems, a nonprofit that turns poetry into film. The short is an adaptation of the poem “Things I Carry Into the World” by Cynthia Manick. It’s an abstract meditation on the body, the feminine, the everyday realities of being young and black, and the fragility between the manmade and the natural. Heywood and McGinnis worked with a nonprofit, Urban Word NYC, who connected them with four poets: Esther Aloba, Nkosi Nkululeko, Makayla Posely, and Trace DePass. The scenes featuring these poets are actually adaptations of their own poems, heard briefly in the opening scene.
Different companies–including The Mill, Cosmo Street, Sonic Union, Heard City and Smuggler–were involved in helping to make the project happen.
McGinnis is an associate producer at Droga5 while Heywood is a coordinator at Smuggler. The two met when they briefly worked at Saatchi & Saatchi and eventually came together as a new directing team.
Heywood and McGinnis ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the project which made its online premiere on NOWNESS.
Credits
Production Jamil McGinnis, Pat Heywood, directors; Claire McGirr, producer; Frances Chen, DP; Todd Boss, Egg Creative, Carolyn Casey, exec producers; Jessica Miller, Tiffanie Young, assistant directors; Armaan Virani, first assistant camera; Patrick Morgan, Denny Kortze, Steadicam; Chandler Tucker, Manny Munoz, DIT; Adrian Anaya, grip & electric; Kearah Armonie, Will Chambers, Jacob Pirogovsky, Darcie Reisler, Jay Robinson, production assistants. Casting Safiya Martinez Connell Adam Falkner, Shannon Matesky. Story Esther Aloba,Trace DePass, Pat Heywood, Jamil McGinnis, Nkosi Nkululeko, Makayla Posely Editorial Cosmo Street Editorial Mark Potter, editor; Anne Lai, producer. Post The Mill Mikey Rossiter, colorist; Evan Bauer, Jacqueine Sands, producers; Mario Stipinovich, Laura Nash, title design; Kieran Hanrahan, 2D lead. Music Squeak E. Clean Rob Barbato, Matthew Compton, composers; Christine Bilich, producer. Audio Heard City Tom Morris, sound engineer. Sonic Union Paul Weiss, sound mixer; Pat Sullivan, producer. Voiceover Talent Aliah Mourad
Stain remover Vanish presents this emotional short film--created by BETC Havas, Sao Paulo, and produced by LOBO--that explores the profound consequences of bullying and highlights the importance of open conversations between parents and children. Titled The Bully Monster, the animated film premiered at the Maquinaria Festival in Rio de Janeiro on February 15 in a special edition featuring family-focused programming.
The filmโs protagonist is a boy who experiences bullying at school but keeps silent about his suffering. Isolation turns sadness into insecurity, creating invisible emotional scars that only grow in the absence of dialogue. When his mother notices stains on his uniform, these marks become the starting point for a revealing conversation. As words find space to make themselves heard, the stains begin to fade.
This initiative aligns with the Vanish Saves Your Uniform campaign, which, for the past three years during the back-to-school season, has engaged with parents by positioning the brand as a trusted partner in preserving school uniforms. This year, Vanish decided to broaden the conversation, bringing bullying into the debate as the real stain that can impact a childโs life.
The Bully Monster is being screened as preshow material in movie theaters starting February 20 and will also be available on streaming platforms and digital channels. In addition to the film, the campaign will include out-of-home activations and school initiatives through a partnership with Abrace โ Preventive Programs, the founding organization of the โBullying-Free Schoolsโ program, which has been equipping institutions with resources to combat school violence for 12 years.
โResearch indicates that stains on a uniform can... Read More
