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    Top Spot of the Week: Pearson Student Advises Younger Self In AI-Enabled Encounter From VaynerMedia, Hummingbird and Tool

    By SHOOTNo Comments179 Views

    Pearson has launched its first global brand campaign in more than five years as the 182-year-old company continues its evolution into an AI-enabled education and reskilling leader.

    The campaign centers on a series of cinematic films featuring real learners in conversation with their younger selves. Using AI to recreate earlier versions of each participant, the films allow individuals to reflect on pivotal decisions, moments of doubt, and turning points that shaped their futures. The creative approach blends emerging technology with documentary storytelling grounded in lived experience.

    At a time when AI’s role in both education and creativity is under intense scrutiny, Pearson has taken a deliberate and considered approach. The technology is used not as spectacle, but as a reflective storytelling device, built around consent, authenticity, and human agency. It reflects Pearson’s strong support for AI in augmenting human potential with learning at the core.

    The first learner stories spotlight U.S.-based individuals, with additional international profiles launching later this spring as part of an ongoing global series that Pearson produced with VaynerMedia for creative, and Hummingbird and Tool of North America for production. Aqsa Altaf and John X. Carey via Hummingbird teamed to direct the “Impact Stories” films.

    This film introduces us to Jasmine who meets her younger 27-year-old self. The younger Jasmine has two kids and is pregnant with a third. She and her two children are living in a domestic violence shelter, sleeping on an inflatable mattress with a slow air leak. Now getting a Pearson education and on her way to realizing her dreams seven years later, Jasmine gets to impart a message of inspiration to her younger self.

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    Credits

    Client Pearson Agency VaynerMedia Rob Lenois, chief creative officer; Hannah Fishman, executive creative director; Amber Wing, creative director; Lauryn Campbell, sr. art director; Patrick Virgie, sr. copywriter; Sam Reinstein, producer. Production Agency & Production Company Hummingbird Aqsa Altaf & John X. Carey, directors; Guido Raimondo, DP; Olivia Berlin, managing partner/executive producer; Willa Goldfeder, producer. AI Tool of North America Adam Baskin, EP of creative technology; Wim Vanhenden, technical director; Hannah Patronoudis, creative technology producer; Julien Vandenavenne, avatar developer; Mark Venter, designer; Aagje Reynders, chatbot developer; Oden Roberts, VFX/AI pipeline director; Sam Jolly, technologist. Editorial Cut+Run Sean Stender, editor; Joelle Wagner, assistant editor; Ivy O’Mahony, producer; Amburr Farls, managing partner; Crissy DeSimone, exec producer; Brady Fiero, head of production. VFX Jogger Alicia Cargile, exec producer; Karissa Callahan, head of production; Rob Romero, producer; Cary Welton, Flame artist.

    Media Type:Film: Short
    Video Tags:HummingbirdTool of North AmericaVaynerMedia



    Team One and Director Sebastian Strasser Create “The Last Real Man” For The RealReal

    Monday, April 13, 2026

    Isn’t it nice to know that some things are still real?

    In a world increasingly crafting fakes, replicas, and perfectly rendered simulations, there are fewer and fewer places that still celebrate authenticity.

    On a day dedicated to lighthearted hoaxes and twists of fate, it seemed a perfect time to release a film that explores what’s real, and not.

    That tension sits at the center of “L’ultimo Uomo Reale” (“The Last Real Man”), a new film from Team One and director Sebastian Strasser, in partnership with the marketplace for authenticated luxury resale, The RealReal.

    Conceived as a response to The RealReal’s 2024/25 “Ask Yourself What’s Real” campaign theme, the film pushes that question further, by exploring the growing tension between perception and reality in today’s digital world.

    At a moment when much of the industry is using AI to scale content, this work flips the lens—using it as both subject and storytelling device. A humorous, slightly unsettling take for anyone who still values the real thing.

    Directed and rendered by Strasser, the piece constructs a hyper-real world that feels convincingly human—until it begins to fracture. Subtle glitches give way to a full unraveling, exposing a carefully engineered illusion.

    “We’re moving into a world where ‘real’ is no longer a baseline—it’s a premium,” said Chris Graves, Chief Creative Officer, Team One. “We wanted to create a story that lets the illusion hold just long enough to feel convincing—then disrupt it, so you’re forced to reconsider what you’re actually looking at. Because what carries value now isn’t just craft. It’s credibility.”

    Team One was inspired by The RealReal’s authentication process... Read More

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