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.
CreditsClient 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
Top Spot of the Week: Samsung, BBH Singapore, Director Rhys Thomas Get Fit For A Surf Holiday
Samsung’s new global campaign from BBH Singapore, featuring Samsung Health and Galaxy AI, tells the story of a young professional couple who compete to get fit for a surf holiday.
Titled “A Samsung Health Story: Racing to Fiji,” this film taps into Gen Z’s wellness dilemma and the fact that they can often find health information overwhelming; in particular, BBH Singapore took inspiration from young people who reference their “quarter life crisis” on social media. This film tells the story of Stacey and Steve who decide to go surfing in Fiji, something they did five years ago but haven’t done since they started their jobs. However, there’s one problem: they need to get fitter first.
Featuring a range of Galaxy products powered by Galaxy AI, they rebuild their fitness to prepare for the trip, competing playfully to spur each other on. We see them comparing their Energy Scores (a new feature on the Samsung Health app), recording their runs and swims on their Samsung Galaxy Watches, trying and failing to get fit at work and on their commutes and striving to improve in the run up to the trip. When they get there, however, there’s a fun twist, and the film ends on a cliffhanger.
The ad is expected to be the first in a series, which will develop the characters and their “world” in future episodes. This longform (two-and-a-half-minute) version of the spot delves deeper into the storytelling, in a fresh approach for Samsung’s product campaigns, while the shorter edits focus on driving exposure to specific features.
BBH Singapore also leaned into the entertainment aspect of the spot; it was directed by comedic specialist Rhys Thomas at Stink Films, who has a major TV background. Best known for his work on Saturday Night... Read More