Bill Bailey puts new tech to the test in the latest Currys ad from Leo McCrea

Leo McCrea directs the latest TVC for Currys PC World featuring comedian Bill Bailey testing out the retailer’s latest laptops. 

The ads purpose is to promote the brand mission of helping everyone to enjoy amazing tech, with the assistance of Bill Bailey. Bill is joined by real Currys PC World colleague expert, Natasha Vora, who helps Bill with the genuine tech testing. 

In this clip Bill is testing the start-up speed of the HP Pavilion laptop to see if it can start in time for him to put on the ultimate virtual rock gig.


Credits 

AGENCY: AMV BBDO/London

DIRECTOR:Leo McCrea

POST PRODUCITON: Coffee & TV

SOUND: Wave Studios/London

TALENT: Bill Bailey

CREATIVE PARTNER: Nadja Lossgott

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Nicholas Hulley

CREATIVE TEAM: Alan Wilson

CREATIVE TEAM: Diccon Driver

AGENCY PRODUCER/CREATIVE PRODUCTION PARTNER: Trish Russell

DP: Simon Rowles

EDITOR: Maia Lloyd

AUDIO POST-PRODUCTION ENGINEER: Parv Thind




It Lies Within In - episode two of Phil Hawkins Acer commercials & Predator Gaming

Episode Two is here.. and it ups the tension and magic in the comic book inspired campaign for Acer’s Predator Gaming campaign. Phil Hawkins brings his trademark cinematic storytelling to the film with a visual feast of special effects and crisp cinematography. 

The episode continues to follow Kya who is still trying to find her place in the world, but is gaining a much better understanding of the powers that lie within her. The story moulds the coming of age school drama with the superhero genre as we follow Kya’s trials and tribulations, making the narrative grounded and relatable with a dash of the epic scope we come to expect from Phil Hawkins.

Credits

Shot in Bulgaria at Nu Boyana with the excellent B2Y PRODUCTIONS.

Producer: Ken Petrie 

Director: Phil Hawkins

Directors Agent: The Visionaries 

DoP: David Meadows 

VFX: Flipbook Studio 

Grade: Jessica Vile

Creatives: Fred Corazza & Alex Smith

Agency Production: Craft WW

Agency: McCann London


Stay tuned.. and make sure to stock up on popcorn because the story is to be continued….. 





Emily McDonald directs new energetic commercial for Jägermeister

Emily’s new spot for Jägermeister perfectly captures the excitement of going on a spontaneous night out with friends. After months inside it feels so good to be able to step outside again and go on adventures with pals. Especially if they involve speed boats and exclusive party’s at unusual locations! 


Shot in Amsterdam, the spot was Directed remotely by Emily McDonald. As Covid restrictions coming into play at the last minute meant Emily was unable to travel there, tech meant that pre-production continued without a hitch, but the shoot had to be re-planned with a different approach. The shoot included 4 locations, one of which was a boat in the middle of the ocean, and after some long days shooting remotely from London Emily and the team pulled it together, creating something that feels fantastically exclusive in the process.


The spot follows a group of friends as they receive an invite to a pop up party. Reminiscent of the rave culture of the 90’s the friends rendezvous at a designated spot with no idea of where they were going or what was in store! What a blast to end up on an oil rig having the night of your life!.... Yes Please Jagermeister! 

Credits


Agency: Indie - Amsterdam

Production Company: Popcorn Brain

Director: Emily McDonald 

Director’s Agent: The Visionaries

Producer: Janneke Mushonga 

DoP: Henry Lockyer

Head of VFX: Tim Smit

Head Editor: Sophie Friederichs

VFX: Dead Pixel









Emily McDonald directs motivational new spot for always - ‘Keep Her Playing’

Emily McDonald’s new spot for Always shows us all that there is plenty of room for women in sport and that there’s plenty to play for. 

The spot features track and field paralympian and MBE Stefanie Reid talking about her own life experiences on how she overcame losing her leg in a boating accident at the age of 15 and how, through the power of sport, she was able to gain her confidence back. 

Stefanie had this to say - “Sport gave me back my fire and fierceness! Through it, I learnt the value of hard work, I learnt how to deal with failure, and I learnt how to be resilient. It also helped me build confidence to explore so many things outside of my sporting career that I might not have considered before, like starting a career as a broadcaster, stepping into sport governance roles and even walking in London Fashion Week. I wish more people knew how much sports can help girls, just like it helped me. I find it really sad that so many girls give up when they hit puberty. That’s why this partnership with Always means so much to me. I want other young girls to be able to experience the benefits I did, and I hope you’ll join me and Always to keep girls playing.”





Credits 



Project: Keep Her Playing

Client: Always

Featuring - Stef Reid

Production Company: Prodigious

Director: Emily McDonald

Director’s Agent: The Visionaries

Executive Producer - Tim Phillips

Producer - Stephen Riera

1st AD - Sam Barnham

DOP - Henry Lockyer

Focus Puller: Karl Hui

Clapper Loader: abina laici

Movi Operator: Ricky Patel

Gaffer - Leo Olesker

Electrician: Charlie Lodge

Sound Op: Rowena Colman

MUA: Holly Miller

Precision Driver: Andrew Morgan

Runner: Alice Carlet

Editor - Marnie Hollande



New filmmaking talent Alan Friel joins The Visionaries

Alan Friel grew up in the windswept countryside of West Ireland surrounded by picturesque landscapes and colourful characters, it was this upbringing that influenced Alan’s later work and inspired him to become an artist. He first studied Fine Art in Dublin at The Royal College before experimenting in the world of filmmaking, creating atmospheric and beautiful films.

Alan has a natural flair for capturing food and performance with recent projects for Morrison’s, ASDA, DLKW Lowe and VCCP. As a natural storyteller, Alan also pours his talents into making short films and developing feature scripts. In this way, he threads together his mastery of capturing natural performances of everyday people in real settings, with the classic warmth and lyrical quality that characterises all his work.

Often in the process of making short films and developing feature films, he has a strongly developed skill for comedy. His short film 'Cake' starring Maxine Peake (Black Mirror) and Letitia Wright (Black Panther) won the Best International Short Film under 15 mins at the Kinsale Shark Awards and the Best Comedy Short at the London Independent Film Awards along with numerous official selections from around the world.

Alan had this to say - “I'm loving the freedom that freelancing is providing me with. Everything is changing so fast and I now feel I can change with them. These are exciting times and I’m very proud to be joining The Visionaries because they represent some great talent.”





Versatile filmmaker Christian Bevilacqua joins The Visionaries roster

Christian Bevilacqua is a master visual storyteller with a strong background in animation and a borderline obsession with cutting edge technology. His work is a mixture of live action with a dimension of VFX and design, creating a trademark style of filmmaking. He’s worked on various innovative campaigns for major brands worldwide such as Nescafe, NFL, Toyota and Mastercard to name a few.

Virgin - Red Hot Homes

Along the way Christian has picked up multiple awards including a pair of Cannes Young Director Awards, multiple Creative Circle awards, and ADDY and APA accolades. 

Christian has expressed that, “The ad industry has been going through quite a transition over the last few years and observing this landscape shift, it seems to me to make sense to pair up with The Visionaries and offer my directing experience in a freelance capacity. It should allow for more ability to form my own relationships and create a bigger sense of connection with the people I will be working with. My experience with freelance tends to feel more collaborative and more part of the team, versus the traditional 'us' and 'them' mentality. We're all in it together and we all try to make great work.”




Guy Soulsby adds to the growing roster of talent at The Visionaries

Guy Soulsby started directing at a very young age after winning praise from the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford. At the age of 22 Guy moved to London, the next five years saw him work for various TV broadcasters in the UK, Canada, Las Vegas and Los Angeles before making the leap to become a freelance director.

Over a decade later he has directed commercials in the UK, Europe, Asia and the USA working with brands that include Sony Playstation, Nike, Cadbury, O2, Telefonica, Michelob, Vauxhall, Mitsubishi and Samsung.

Cadbury - Freeze The Joy

Mr Robot - Trailer

Guy has also expanded his narrative work with his short film ‘Devil Makes Work’ starring Shaun Dooley which received Vimeo Staff Pick and was selected for 40 film festivals including Raindance and BAFTA accredited Leeds International Film Festival.

Guy had this to say - “I’m excited to join The Visionaries and to have the support of a great team behind me who will open new doors and create new opportunities.”




Will Innes Smith collabs with Fiat and Jacob Collier In music inspired commercial

The latest work from Will Innes Smith for Fiat is a colorful road trip pop infused delight, featuring music star Jacob Collier. 

Director Will Innes Smith explained the lengthy process for production: “Shot over two days in late May, ‘Here With You’ is a new film for Fiat featuring multi Grammy award winning artist Jacob Collier and the brand’s all new electric car the Fiat 500e. The film follows Jacob on a quick cut journey of inspiration - as he leaves the city in pursuit of fresh air and a healthy dose of head space - all set to Jacob’s re-interpretation of the classic Peggy Lee song “Here With You.” 

The film takes both visual and tonal cues from the look and personality of the car; a vibrant colour palette of acid tone, intercutting mixed media formats and cinematic framing all combining to merge youthful energy with high production values. The film was often a challenging one; a mix of false starts (production and otherwise), tight deadlines, non existent British spring sunshine - often making it feel like the job could take the wrong turn at any moment. 

But thanks to the tireless work of the crew - a special mention to Chris Clarke DOP - and resourcefulness of the production team - hat tip to Natalie Price at MilkMoney - it didn’t and we produced a film I’m enormously proud of.”



Credits

Agency : Universal Music / UMGB - Harry Adams and Emma Aucouturier 

Production Company : Milk Money 

Production : Roz Barnfield, Sam Farrance, Natalie Price, Poppy Davies

Director : Will Innes Smith

DOP : Chris Clarke 

Music : “Here With You” Peggy Lee reversioned by Jacob Collier 

Featured Talent : Jacob Collier


Art Director : Ranya El-Refaey 

Stylist : Barbara Ayozie

Drone Pilots : Steve Peters / Mike Foyle

Editor : Colin Sumsion

Post Production : David Clifton

Sound : Scott Little @Big Bouy

Grade : Simona Cristea @Coffee & TV 

Locations (UK) : Tim Davies

1st AD : Lucas Harding 

Grip : Jess Saunders






Samona Olanipekun directs intimate new spot for Gucci - ‘A Place Of Our Own’

Samona Olanipekun’s latest film ‘A Place Of Our Own’ for Gucci is a beautifully composed piece of work accompanied by the highest quality of cinematography and a voice of narration that perfectly captures the aesthetics of the commercial. Gucci and creative agency A Vibe Called Tech teamed up for this collaboration to pay tribute to the brand's sustainable Off The Grid collection. 

Gucci continues its foray into sustainable fashion, the film celebrates the eco-friendly collection with Sam’s unique brand of filmmaking which brings a blissful joy to the campaign. A Vibe Called Tech agency pride themselves on exploring Black creativity and culture and the film comes together creating an authentic exploration of the reality of present day Black joy, while simultaneously highlighting the hopes of a sustainable future.  

 



Credits 

Directed by Samona Olanipekun 

Directors Agent The Visionaries

Produced by A Vibe Called Tech

Director of Photography Oliver Ford 

Edited by Marvin Jay Alvarez

Grade Tim Smith @timotheous @ CHEAT

Sound Dayo James

Models - Fabio Silva 

Kieza Kanda 

Voices - Keith Charles & Yazzmin Newell



‘Looking Back with Pride’ Emily Mcdonald’s new Vogue film puts the spotlight on the senior queer and trans community

Emily’s beautiful new work for British Vogue is centered around queer and trans individuals in their 60s and 70s. David, 75, Peggy, 73, Ted, 71, and 69-year-old Adele reflect on their memories of coming out, the remarkable change they’ve witnessed in their lifetimes. Living through social changes from Stonewall riots in 1969, to the first Pride marches of the 70s, we listen to their accounts of what it was like to live through it all. 

Pride month is the perfect time for these stories to be shared to the world, as we reflect on how far we’ve come as a society, but also to remind ourselves of the pioneering people who are the faces of Pride, their struggle, and why we celebrate Pride in the first place.

Emily had this to say about working on the project - “This was one of my favourite shoots ever to work on. These are the people who gave us Pride and what an honour it was to let them reclaim the spotlight.” 



Credits


Featuring

Adele Anderson

David James

Peggy Eagle

Ted Brown


Director: Emily McDonald

Director of Photography: Henry Lockyer

Creative Director: Samantha Crossley

Commissioners: Minnie J Carver

Sylvia Hong, Jessica Vincent

Senior Video Producer & Commissioner: Minnie J Carver

Production Company: Forever

Executive Producers Sasha Nixon, MrMr

Producer: Scarlett Barclay

Agency Producer: Sylvia Hong

----------

Stylist: Josh Meredith

Fashion Assistant: Shannon Reynolds

Hairstylist & Make-up Artist: Holly Miller

Production Designer: Levi Hinds

Camera Assistant: Mitchell Collins

Gaffer: Abi Hurcomb

Spark: Tanya Ringer

Sound Recordist: Rowena Coleman

Unit Medic & Covid Supervisor: DR Usama Khalid

Runner & Driver: Frankie Boyle

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Editor: Craig Coole

Titles: Rebecca Rumble

Colourist: Ruth Wardell

Sound Composition: Joseph Reuben

Sound Mixer: Ed Railton

Post Production Co-ordinator: Jessica Vincent



Miika Vaso showcases the great outdoors in new Porsche ad 'Soul, Electrified'

Miika Vaso has directed a new spot for Porsche titled ‘Soul, Electrified’. The film is about a young professional escaping the stresses of professional life to the beautiful outdoors, using the electrifying Taycan Cross Turismo as his vehicle. We’re given glimpses of the beauty and life of the outdoors. Woodland trees, the sea, windmills, a campfire, and striking sunlight draw us deeper and deeper into the world of nature.

Miika explains the making of the ad in detail, stating, "The idea for the film was to bounce between two worlds: a professional world of an actor, an intense world of repetition and emotion, versus a calmer natural world, where one can relax and recharge. Obviously the electrifying and electric Porsche was the vehicle allowing this transition to happen. This was a fantastic job to shoot. Our talent, Lauri (Tilkanen) is a fantastic actor and directing him on a theatre stage was as rewarding as shooting the incredible Porsche with all of our toys. The fact that the car performs equally well on gravel as it does on tarmac gave us a few extra challenges in terms of where and how to shoot it.”

The location being in Miika’s native country gave the film a special touch: “We scouted a number of exterior locations in my native Finland and I must say that after three lockdowns in London, being by the sea and in the woods felt amazing for the whole crew and I think it shows in the film. We put a lot of hours into the film, especially together with Sam Goldie who did a great job with the camera department, but those moments like that sunset swim really happened, and we were there breathing that fresh sea air and kind of living the premise of the film ourselves to some extent, which is not something that always happens with shoots. Intimate moments, fast-paced stuff, bigger shots with some toys, a top actor and a Porsche, shot in my home country. Pretty dreamy after a year like last year."

Credits

Client: Porsche

Agency: Kauas Creative

Exec. Producer: Olli Keskinen

Creative Director: Jotti Taival

Director: Miika Vaso

Director Agent: The Visionaries 

DOP: Sam Goldie

1st AC/Focus Puller: Aaro Visala

Colourist: Stef Perry /Framestore

Colour Producer: Chris Anthony /Framestore

Music/Composer: Lorenzo Piggici

Sound Design: Mikko Roisko/Vild

Precision/Stunt Driver: Jukka Honkavuori

Production Manager: Kiira Tiainen 

Production Assistant: Misael Sine

Chase Car & Drone Team: Bongo Bongo

Lead Gimbal Technician: Sami Rehmonen / Bongo Bongo

Wardrobe: Sofia Oksanen

Make-Up and Hair: Emma Räsänen

Location Manager: Pauli Kairismaa

Extra special thanks to: Sanna Vuori




Award winning director Jim Weedon joins the Visionaries for freelance representation

The Visionaries is proud to announce that award winning director of multiple D&AD Awards, Jim Weedon, is arriving on board for freelance representation. Having first established himself as an editor in London’s Soho and working with directing giants Ridley Scott, Jonathan Glazer, as well as cutting promos for bands such as U2 and Radiohead, he has developed a very solid knowledge and understanding of directing as its most technical. 

His long list of awards include a 2002 D&AD Pencil for Outstanding Editing on Adidas, a Yellow D&AD Pencil for MND Association film ‘Sarah’s Story’, and a BBC New Director Award for his short film, ‘There Was A Man’. 

jim pic.jpg

Due to his rich knowledge in the art of editing, Jim’s work has the advantageous edge of incredibly effective sound design and editing, as well as visual effects. His work utilises these tools in such a way that emotions are not just vicariously felt, but taken on by the viewer. We are confident that Jim will take on many new commercial opportunities that allow his technical know-how to take centre stage. 

Weedon says, “I’m excited to join The Visionaries and see what’s next in store for me in commercials. I feel that I’ll have the support to continue adding to my diverse and varied reel here, so it’s a promising place to be in.”

Jim’s diverse range of work can be viewed here.


Claire Norowzian captures the spirit and excitement of the Euros 2020

Club football is over and the Summer is approaching which can only mean one thing, international football is back with the Euro 2020 tournament building momentum. We can all start to believe once again that football is coming home. Claire’s new work captures the hype and excitement that only international football can provide. Starring Arsenal and England royalty Ian Wright the film is a blast of colour and imagination with Claire’s trademark mix of live action and animation.

“It was honestly such a joy making this with ITV. We all seemed to be on the same trippy wave length, determined to bring some joy and colour back into the world and I think we did just that with our psychedelic animation.” - Claire Noroqzian


Credits:

Agency and Production Company -  ITV Creative

Executive Creative Director - Tony Pipes
Creative Director - Rachel King

Director - Claire Norowzian

Directors' Agent - The Visionaries

Head of Production - Deborah Stewart
Producer - Simon Sanderson
Campaign Management Lead - Emma Reith
Campaign Manager - Charlotte Berman
Lead Strategist - James Hillhouse
Director Of Photography -Nick Bennett
Production Designer - Liz El-Kadhi Brown
Editor - Tim Hardy@Stitch 
Animation - Grizzle 
Design Lead - Harry Thornbury
Colourist - Kai van Beers @nineteentwenty
Audio Post - String & Tins 
Music Track - Ocean Wisdom (Artist) 'Don' (Title)

Tom Brown directs delicious new spots for McVitie’s

For Tom’s latest work he teamed up with biscuit aficionados McVitie’s to promote the brand new  lemon drizzle and chocolate brownie flavours. 

Lemon Drizzle

Chocolate Brownie


“Right off the bat this project had an incredibly strong central idea which entailed zooming in to a Mcvitie's biscuit right down to what we called the 'flavour-verse' at its heart. We also wanted this burrowing journey to go though through a real lemon drizzle cake/pile of chocolate brownies on the way. In order to grab all the components for the idea  -we shot the cakes, lemons, chocolate and individual biscuits on model movers at BITES studio in Poland. This part of the shoot was remote and BITES were great at talking through the concepts to make sure we got exactly what was needed.” - Director, Tom Brown.


Tom adds “Our constituent parts then went to Black Kite Studios who composited them together in Flame to create our macro effect - that sees us zoom in to the cakes to find the flavour ingredients drifting in our 'inner space' scene. When coupled with our live action elements which saw our actors eating biscuits in beautifully colour coordinated kitchens and lounges ( Art Direction by Charles Whiteway) as well as some pinpoint lighting from DOP Sam Meyer - we ended up with two super slick 30s spots that look fantastic in multiple social media formats.”