Client Cheerios (General Mills) Agency Saatchi & Saatchi New York Peter Moore Smith, Justin Ebert, executive creative directors; Johnie Ingram, creative director; Nick Marchese, copywriter; Taylor Lucas, art director; Tanya LeSieur, chief production officer; John Doris, head of content production; Dani Stoller, executive producer; Eric Korte, music director; Emily Williamson, production manager. Production Community Films, Los Angeles Matt Smukler, director; Tami Reiker, DP; Carl Swan, exec producer; Carr Donald, line producer. Editorial Beast, New York Jim Ulbrich, editor; Elmer McCarty, assistant editor; Valerie Iorio, producer; Helena Lee, exec producer Post Company 3, New York Tom Poole, colorist; Post Gryphn, New York Scott Bravo, sr. VFX artist; Mark Reyes, producer. End Tag Animation Calabash Animation, Chicago. Wayne Brejcha, creative director; Sean Henry, exec producer. Music Big Foote, New York. Kari Steinert, music arrangement. Audio Sonic Union, New York Michael Marinelli, mixer. VFX Michael Ricca, compositor (freelance)
This short film--for King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research from Publicis Middle East and Dejavu Dubai, written and directed by Tahaab Rais (of Publicis and Dejavu)--tells the stories of seemingly disconnected strangers around the world, living their lives, but remaining connected by something unexpected.
A young man hiking to the peak of a mountain in the snow.
A little girl honing her rugby skills.
A single mother enjoying time in the kitchen messing about with her two kids.
A pianist performing at a café once again
A dad telling a bedtime story to his kid.
A young graduate capturing a key milestone moment in life with his parents.
An old man enjoying his time feeding birds in a park.
A mother, whose eyesight is in question, winds up seeing her toddler for the first time ever.
What connects all these slices of life? (Spoiler alert: you may want to view the film before going on reading this description).
The moments of life--mundane, joyous, revelatory--are made possible by organ donation.
And in each scene witnessing these moments is the organ donor, proving that: “We live on through what we give.”
Dearly departed organ donors live with us through their generosity and live-saving (heart) or live-enhancing (eyes) gifts.
“Strangers” encompasses the truth that there are strangers who impact our lives in ways that make us feel alive, but also, in ways that make them feel alive to all of us and their loved ones.
Adding to the significance of this film’s message is that it’s from Saudi Arabia where organ donation is misperceived to be prohibited by religion. However, religions in the region and elsewhere encourage saving lives--and organ donation is a... Read More
