The Colony director Harry Sanna has helmed an epic, :60 commercial supported by multiple web films, for the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group and agency Whybin/TWBA, Melbourne.
The campaign has just launched in Australia and New Zealand and will expand to Asia in coming weeks. The commercial is linked to the web documentaries via a dedicated webpage that offers an integrated universe for these inspirational “worldshaper” narratives.
The subjects of the campaign – all pioneers and innovators within their fields – include: medical innovator Sir Ray Avery; polar explorer Dr. Rebecca Lee; solo world sailor Jessica Watson; tennis icon Martina Navratilova; social robotics innovator Marita Cheng; environment-sensitive designer David Trubridge; Mars One program innovators and participants, Bas Lansdorp and Dianne McGrath; Atari founder Nolan Bushnell; and world no. 1-ranked woman golfer Lydia Ko. The commercial also features humanoid “female” robot Geminoid F, the impressively realistic product of robotics engineers at Osaka University.
ANZ Bank describes the subjects of the commercial as “inspiring individuals, with drive, commitment and imagination in transforming the world around them.” The bank seeks to inspire its customers to take control of their own worlds via the financial instruments and opportunities it offers.
For director Harry Sanna, the subject choices, however eclectic, are a celebration of the individual – whether thought-provoking, action-inducing or future-confronting. For Sanna, the epic, :60 commercial creates a taste for the array of accompanying web documentaries exploring each individual’s story; a formula he found irresistible. The spot needed to be big, “really expansive in scope” and capture “each person in a setting that would act as an immediate visual cue to their story”.
“We were fairly blessed in that regard, as the environments went from polar frontier to old-school arcade, the surface of Mars to the middle of the Pacific. Additionally, I wanted each shot to have a moving, portrait-like feel.”
Sanna’s background in powerful, journalistic documentary (he was a war correspondent in Afghanistan) resulted in seemingly effortless authentic and natural performances from the subjects. Says Sanna, “the shoot process involved lots of on-the-day improvisation. As stand-alones, all the subjects were charming, impressive and a pleasure to work with. As a group… well, the month I spent interviewing them will stay with me for a very long time.”
View the :60 commercial here: http://bit.ly/1EXvoEC
View the content films here: http://bit.ly/1EQjkE2
About The Colony
The Colony is a New York-based integrated content company with a roster of award winning directors. Visit The Colony at: www.the-colony.com
