Creative incubator The Lab at Anonymous Content has released Wake Up, a short film presented by HP and directed by Olivia Wilde (who joined Anonymous Content last summer for her first commercial and branded content representation).
Wake Up stars Margaret Qualley as a woman recovering from amnesia, forced to rediscover her humanity in an increasingly digital world.
HP described the short as “a provocative invitation to start a conversation about how the technology we depend on for our information, entertainment, and social connection has come disturbingly close to supplanting the very interactions that make us human.”
The film debuted last week at ChefDance, an event during the nearby Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
“It was such a thrill to collaborate with Margaret Qualley, legendary cinematographer Matty Libatique [nominated for Oscars as DP of Black Swan and A Star Is Born], and the rest of our extraordinary crew to tell this story about what it means to be human,” said Wilde, who made her feature directorial debut last year with the critically acclaimed Booksmart.
Credits
Client HP Production Anonymous Content Olivia Wilde, director; Matthew Libatique, DP; Akin McKenzie, production designer; David Webb, first AD; Eric Stern, managing director; Kerry Haynie, head of production; Laurie Boccaccio, line producer; Zac Ryder, Adam Groves, executive creative directors; Chase Hilton, Garrett Combes, lead creatives; Esther Peris, producer. Performers Margaret Qualley Editorial Work Editorial Neil Smith, editor; Marlo Baird, exec producer; Christie Price, producer. Color Color Collective Alex Bickell, colorist; Claudia Guevara, exec producer. VFX Moving Picture Company (MPC) Alvin Cruz, on-set supervision; Lexi Stern, exec producer; Sara Gbadamosi, producer; Benji Davidson, VFX supervisor/lead Flame artist; Sam Shiflett, Andy Roberts, Rob Ufer, Hector Cabrera, Peter Ulukpo, Sean Anderson, Ragesh Ramchandran, Manu Gopalakrishnan, compositors; Anthony Riccardi, Kris Fortin, designers/animators. Music Track “Otherside” by Perfume Genius. Music Supervision Walker Music Sara Matarazzo, Stephanie Pigott, exec producers; Danielle Soury, producer. Sound Design Jafbox Sound
Directed by Steve Rogers via Biscuit Filmworks for agency VCCP London, this spot titled “Memory” opens with a daughter visiting her father at his home, a bar of Cadbury Wholenut chocolate in hand. Her father, living with dementia, smiles at the sight of the chocolate, recognizing it as a gift his daughter has bought him since she was a child. In this moment, he doesn’t recognize her as his daughter. Instead, he begins to tell her how this ritual gifting always makes his wife laugh because, as he proudly reveals, he’s always hated nuts.
The daughter can’t help but laugh, touched by the idea that her father has kept this secret for so long. As he looks at her earnestly, he asks her not to tell his “daughter”--meaning her--about the secret, because “it makes her so happy.” The daughter responds softly. “It does.” She recognizes the quiet generosity of her father’s long-held secret, something he’s kept hidden from her all these years, despite not always remembering who she is.
Cadbury is committed to telling inclusive stories rooted in human truths that are representative of the U.K. To ensure the story’s accurate portrayal of people living with dementia, Cadbury consulted with specialists throughout the development of the film.
Cadbury has extended its partnership with Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, into 2025. The two organizations first joined together in 2024 to celebrate the role of Cadbury in the nation’s shared memories and to support the charity’s mission for a cure for dementia.
“Memory” was brought to life with the help of VCCP’s global content production studio Girl&Bear. The film will run across the U.K. throughout 2025, appearing on TV, VOD,... Read More
