Droga5 New York created this “Amani” campaign which reflects Meta’s potential to bring people together.
Centerpiece of the campaign is this short film directed by Illimité World (French for “Limitless World”) which consists of two directors of color–Aus Taylor and Marleaux Desiré. “The world is y(ours)” is a mantra used by the native-Baltimore directorial duo, using it as a reminder that each artistic offering is a view into the world of their imaginations. The directors are adept at combining a mix of classical cinema, creative animation and raw documentary style filmmaking.
Turned out by production company Love Song, the “Amani” short tells the story of 12 young African cyclists who have come together to compete in the global cycling scene–shining a light on the next generation of cyclists to show how Meta’s future vision for shared, immersive experiences in the metaverse has the potential to break down barriers universally.
Love Song partner/director/EP Daniel Wolfe, who also exec produced Meta’s award-winning and Emmy-nominated film “Skate Nation Ghana,” served again as EP on the “Amani” film. A mentor to many young directors, he collaborated closely with Illimité World to capture the riders competing in the metaverse with a blend of both striking visuals and human depth.
Credits
Client Meta Agency Droga5 NY David Droga, creative chairman; Scott Bell, chief creative officer; Thom Glover, executive creative director; Ted Meyer, Jason Gold, creative directors; Ben Brown, Benjamin Hinamanu, sr. copywriters; Ben Muckensturm, sr. art director; Nate Scott, executive design director; Mark Yoon, group design director; Kenisha Rullan, designer; Mike Hasinoff, executive producer, film; Scotty Schuckies, sr. producer, film; Mel Calabro, producer, film; Matt Mintz, associate producer, film; Mike Ladman, sr. music supervisor; Brandy Ricker, music supervisor; Mara Techam, jr. music supervisor; Harry Roman-Torres, Diana Gonzalez, group brand strategy directors; Anthony Perez, brand strategy director; Ellie Frame, sr. brand strategist; Mariel Calara, associate brand strategist; Andy Littlewood, chief knowledge officer; Sean La’Brooy, sr. data strategist. Production Company Love Song Illimité World (French for “Limitless World,” consisting of Aus Taylor and Marleaux Desiré); Daniel Wolfe, partner/exec producer; Diego Garcia, Shawn Peters, DPs. Kelly Bayett, managing partner/exec producer; Deannie O’Neil, exec producer; Paige Kauffman, head of production; Leah Donnenberg, producer; Alejandro Ramia, Kristina Ilyina, 1st assistant directors; Bee Diamondhead, stylist; Andrew Clark, production designer. Production Services Company (Kenya) Blue Sky Films Hemal Shah, exec producer. Production Services Company (South Africa) Monkey Films Clare van Zyl, owner/exec producer; Phillip Killingbeck, head of production. Editorial Marsheen Dominic Leung, Amber Saunders, editors; Matthew Blacklock, assistant editor; Harriet Cawley, exec producer. Color Company 3 Simon Bourne, colorist; Chris Anthony, sr. color producer. VFX The Mill Dan Williams, executive creative director; Carl Norton, creative director & 2D lead; Edward Shires, Dan Moore, Nuno Pereira, Adam Droy, 3D lead; Matt McDougal, Gustavo Ribeiro, Rafael Vormittag, Zoe Cosh, 2D artists; Artur Drozdowicz, Arnab Bhattacharya, Aman Jain, Ben Beckett, Callum Austin, Charles Vidaud, Giacomo Cavalletti, Hannah Bahyan, Joao Pires, Katie Bates, Kieran Russell, Kapil Rana, Luke Frampton, Sandeep Grover, Vaclav Cizkovsky, Thomas Craig, Shravan Srikanth, Dinesh B, Jyoti Prakash Panda, Thirumoorthi Sivakumar, Swathi M S, Roman Vrbovsky, Praveen Sharma, Pol Escale Cabre, Petroc Menuhin, Paul Autric, Paul Tempelman, 3D artists; Kwok Lam, Adam Roche, Barry Chapman, Can Y Sanalan, Freya Barnsley, Henrik Holmberg, Daphne Westelynck, design; Caitlin Donaldson, Rory Leighton, color assist; Clare Melia, exec producer; Nicola Simmons, producer; Tarun Misra, line producer; David Wishart, Gavin Marler, finish artists. Title Designs & Typography Fraser Muggeridge studio. Music Supervision Curation Music Sunny Kapoor, music supervisor. Recording Studio (Kenya) Hiventy Sound Design Barking Owl Gus Koven, sound designer; Kelly Bayett, creative director; Ashley Benton, exec producer. Music “Ffe basajja ba Kabaka” Bobcat Goldwav, remix Additional Sound Design & Mix King Lear Music & Sound Ed Downham, sound designer & mixer.
Luke Jaden directed two films for PETA, including this one titled “Inhumane” which highlights a family of sheep fearing for their lives on a farm--and for the inevitable day when they will be slaughtered for meat.
Jaden--an alumnus of SHOOT’s 2023 New Directors Showcase--explained that the campaign was aimed at “silent storytelling. Looking back at the power of silent film--we wanted to show that animals are not silent. Animals may not be able to talk like us humans, but they are just as sentient as us and animals can communicate a conversation between one another. They are highly observant and intellectual beings. So, we wanted to highlight the feelings they do feel, which I would say was the biggest challenge. We captured them in their natural environment in a docu-style approach to not distract them as the camera can be an unfamiliar thing. We wanted to craft and build a conversation that would coalesce as a narrative between the animals and their families on the farm. We really wanted to show those ideas on-screen and we wanted to approach this with a sensitive, unobtrusive lens that captured the honesty and fear these animals can and do feel on a farm before they are killed by their owners.”
Octagon Haus was the production company on the PETA work, which came out of agency Viewmaster.
