Chloé Zhao, who earlier this year won Best Picture and Director Oscars for Nomadland, directed this spot for Ford out of Wieden+Kennedy New York. Titled “Make It Revolutionary,” the commercial debuts during the opening ceremonies of the 2021 Olympic Games. For the film, Zhao brings the human side of the transition to electric vehicles to the fore, showing how this revolutionary technology can still feel incredibly familiar. Zhao’s human-centric approach to storytelling enabled her to draw out extraordinary performances from a cast of primarily non-actors.
Zhao–who directed the Ford project via production house Caviar–also has a personal connection with the Ford brand. She built a camper van out of a Ford Transit and often travels and works from it. The protagonists in her films are often seen driving a Ford vehicle.
“Make It Revolutionary” was a green production from end-to-end, indicative of the breadth of Ford’s larger sustainability goals as a company.
In 2021 alone, Ford has electrified three of its iconic nameplates, with the introduction of the F-150 Lightning, the Mustang Mach-E, and the E-Transit van, vehicles that are fun to drive and have unique performance and capabilities only possible because of electrification.
CreditsClient Ford Agency Wieden+Kennedy New York Karl Lieberman, executive creative director; Stuart Jennings, Eric Helin, creative directors; Jake Thompson, copywriter; Alex McClelland, art director; Nick Setounski, head of integrated production; Jess Griffeth, executive producer; Jordan Leinen, sr. producer; Rodrigo Nino, producer; Alix Toothman, strategy director. Production Caviar Chloé Zhao, director; Greig Fraser, DP; Rebecca Donaghe, line producer; Michael Sagol, managing partner. Editorial Joint Matt Burke, editor; Elaine Green, Matt Clark, editorial assistant; Kari Ickert, sr. post producer; Michelle Carman, exec producer. VFX Preymaker Adrian Hurley, VFX supervisor; Greg Cutler, Kevin Quinlan, VFX 2D lead; Kevin Quinlan , Simon Holden, Hieu Phan, Tim Bird, Raymond Volker, Matthew Tremaglio, Phil Massimino, Ben Weaver, VFX artists; Zach Fortin, Gwen Frey, Katherine Lannon, VFX producers; Melanie Wickham, Verity Kneale, exec producers. Color Company 3 Jill Bogdanowicz, colorist; Matt Moran, color producer. Music Emile Mosseri, composer. Music Premier Music Group Winslow Bright, music supervisor/exec producer. Audio Post Sonic Union Steve Rosen, sound designer/mix engineer; Joey Glick, assistant engineer; Justine Cortale, studio director.
We Are Pi Rolls Out Trailer For Nike-Backed Feature On Athletes With Olympic and Paralympic Dreams
Amsterdam-based creative agency We Are Pi debuted the trailer for Crois Pas Qu’on Dort (Don’t Think We’re Sleeping in English), an inspiring feature-length story of three young French athletes in the lead-up to the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. The 90-minute French language film, which was developed and produced by We Are Pi with the support of Nike, will premiere in mid January 2025 followed by a release in theaters at the end of January. It follows three protagonists from Paris and its suburbs: Charles-Antoine, a runner with an intellectual disability who won Gold at the Tokyo Paralympics and is competing in this year’s Paralympics; and Leyna and Maysane, French twin sisters and heirs to their Laotian-Algerian family’s very own taekwondo dynasty who are coached by their father and dream of competing in taekwondo at Paris 2024. The athletes were followed by a film crew over the course of five years, recording how their stories, their lives and their sporting achievements unfold over time. The film combines the rawness and intimacy of their everyday lives with the audacity of their sporting dreams, with their stories culminating at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympics. Crois Pas Qu’on Dort was created with the aim of inviting a new generation of athletes in France into sport by inspiring them with the stories of our protagonists and the transformative power that sport had on their lives. The production began over seven years ago in 2017 with nearly two years of extensive casting sessions that involved viewing around 500 profiles of athletes. Two directors, Nick Walters and Lou Marillier, English and French, respectively, subsequently followed the selected young protagonists closely as they pursued their... Read More