Malak and the Boat, an animated short for UNICEF from agency 180LA, shows the plight of Syrian refugees, transitioning to live action to show that the tale of a seven-year-old girl named Malak has roots in real life.
House of Colors served as the animation studio.
Credits
Client UNICEF Agency 180LA William Gelner, chief creative officer; Stephen Larkin, chief marketing officer; Rafael Rizuto, Eduardo Marques, executive creative officers; Dave Cuccinello, David Povill, creative directors; Natasha Wellesley, director of integrated production; Jason Lau, art and content producerโ; Florian Bodet, Irene Luevano, Bethlehem Herhane, translators. Animation House of Colors, Los Angeles Adhemas Batista, designer/character/storyboards/concept art; Andrรฉ Holzmeister, director and script, CGI, visual direction, character; Jonathan Marshall, character/concept art/storyboards; Ricardo Almeida, Guilherme Neder, animatic; Luiz Abud, project manager; Rodrigo Henrique, render wrangler (Rendering sponsored by RebusFarm GmbH/Reederservice. Editorial Melvin Editorial Dave Groseclose, editor; Brian Scharwath, postproduction manager. Sound Design/Music Hefty Audio Edu Luke, Elisa Gatti, sound design/music
Toolbox: 3D Studio Max, After Effects, Corona Renderer, Zbrush, Rebusfarm)
This spot for Value City Furniture, airing across 22 markets throughout the U.S. (after a regional Super Bowl buy of 14 markets), introduces us to folks who break out into song--over their regrettable furniture purchases. We see a man sinking until he disappears into a couch, crooning that if he had it to do over, heโd never would have bought this sofa. A man then bemoans his decision to build a desk, followed by a woman who is catapulted out of the recliner she wishes she had never purchased.
But not to worry as the musical/comedy spot transitions to people singing about how much they love the comfortable, stylish sofas and other homeware which they got at Value City furniture. It all boils down to making a โquality choice.โ
Ruganzu โRiggsโ Howard of Epoch Films directed this unconventional furniture commercial created by agency Colle McVoy.
โWe wanted this new creative direction to highlight the superior quality of Value City Furniture products in juxtaposition to the not-so-quality options plaguing consumers,โ said Colle McVoy group creative director Lia Khayami Quinones. โFurniture is the hero here--and people get to see the day and night differences that come when choices made donโt live up to consumersโ expectations.โ
Quinones noted that no other song options were considered beyond Cherโs โIf I Could Turn Back Time.โ The song gives space for cinematic sweeps and classic deadpan physical comedy thatโs wacky while being firmly rooted in real pain points people have regarding furniture. Around 15 versions of adapted lyrics were generated before landing on the final track.
The team reviewed almost 500 casting videos across Toronto and Los Angeles, looking for people who had the right balance between physicality and... Read More