Production company Strange Loop has teamed-up with Uber to produce a short documentary campaign promoting Uber’s recent partnership with the Youth Guidance organization in Chicago.
The organization provides mentorship to hundreds of students at pivotal points in their lives through their BAM (Becoming a Man) and WOW (Working on Womanhood) programs.
Helmed by director David Huzieran, the project(s) capture(s) an authentic look through a meditative lens, guiding the viewer into the life of a Southside Chicago student as he embarks on a journey of self-discovery, fueled by a compassionate mentor relationship.
The first of two companion pieces gives a visceral look into the personal relationship between a BAM student named James and his mentor Mr. Solomon from each one of their perspectives.
James is a high school student on Chicago’s Southside, who has grown up facing severe adversity. He lost his father at a young age giving the teen almost no hope of a higher education.
After entering the BAM program within his high school, he was introduced to Mr. Solomon, who faced similar issues growing-up. Through the program, Mr. Solomon and James were able to build a relationship based on emotional trust within each other that allowed James to gain a whole new outlook on life. The piece end with a message from Uber, “Because everyone deserves a chance to move forward.” You can watch James’ story below:
CREDITS:
Director: David Huzieran
EP: Nick Santore
Producer: Luca Valente
Director of Photography: Jake Zalutsky
Editor: Jordan Bracewell
Color: Parker Jarvie @ Company 3
Sound Design & Mix by John Wong
Original Music by Justin Lee Radford
1st AC: Matt Miele
Gaffer: Danny Valdez
Location Audio: Scott Palmer
Strange Loop is repped by Sarah Gitersonke
Digital Kitchen adds talent
Digital Kitchen announced they have hired Ally Malloy as Director of Client Services and Joran Thompson as Director of Business Development.
“With Ally and Joran, we are adding two incredible people to our team who belong here at DK. Both have already helped us bring new thinking and new ideas to the clients we work with every day, helping DK achieve results collaboratively that we could never achieve individually,” explained Anthony Vitagliano, President and Chief Creative Officer.
He added, “Creating a feeling of belonging is the most important driver of meaning for the brands people love and we are seeing growing interest in our ability to deliver brand experiences that make people feel like they belong. Ally and Joran will help us propel these ideas further.”
Prior to his role at DK, Malloy served as a senior client partner in San Francisco and London at such agencies as Kenwood Experiences, DigitasLBI and others, working on behalf of such clients as Google, MTV, Visa, BBC, and HP.
served as Director of Marketing and Sales Enablement at CDM Media, and has a background in media sales, PR and digital marketing and communications. She has worked in both corporate and startup environments alongside clients including Nike, Bloomingdales, MillerCoors, Uber and IBM.
Most recently, Digital Kitchen has created ground-breaking art and digital installations at the new Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta to build fan engagement for both the Atlanta Falcons football team and Atlanta United Soccer Team.
Coco tops weekend box office
In a fairly quiet post-Thanksgiving weekend, Coco held the top spot at the box office, racing past $100 million in its second week in theaters. The well-reviewed and culturally resonant Pixar film earned $26.1 million domestically.
The animated movie, which follows a Miguel, a boy who desires to play guitar, into the underworld, is yet another smash for Disney, which crossed $5 billion globally for the third consecutive year, according to a representative. And Disney isn’t done yet: Star Wars: The Last Jedi is expected to earn possibly $200 million opening weekend. Here is the trailer for Coco.
Justice League, from Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment, fell off sharply in its third weekend, taking in $16.5 million in the number two slot. Even with this low earning, the divisive film is on the brink of cracking a total of $200 million domestically.
Rounding out the top five are Lionsgate’s Wonder, a family movie starring Julia Roberts with $12.5 million, bringing its total to $88 million. “Wonder” cost $20 million to make. Thor: Ragnarok took the fourth slot with $9.6 million bringing its domestic total to 291,406,599. Not bad for a film budgeted at $180 million. And finally, Daddy’s Home 2 with a tally of $7.5 million bringing the Paramount pic total to $82, 814, 446.
The Disaster Artist, from the studio A24, James Franco’s retelling of the creation of the notoriously bad movie The Room, was a huge hit in limited release, taking in $1.2 million from just 19 theaters, for an average of $64,254 per theater.
Another A24 film, “Lady Bird,” saw a 12 percent bump as it arrived in 400 additional theaters. The movie, starring Saoirse Ronan), sits at an unheard-of 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
SNL ladies welcome male harassers to hell
Cecily Strong, Aidy Bryant, Kate Mckinnon and guest host Saoirse Ronan took on all the relentless recent news about awful men with histories of sexual misconduct in this video that aired as part of the weekend’s episode.
The darkly comic music video, titled I, opens with a spoken-word intro kicked off by Cecily Strong, who says, “Hey there, boys. We know the last couple months have been frickin’ insane,” followed by Aidy Bryant adding, “All these big, cool, powerful guys are turning out to be, what’s the word? Habitual predators?” and Kate McKinnon chiming in with “Cat’s out of the bag, women get harassed all the time!”
Contact Colin Costello at colin@reelchicago.com or follow him on Twitter @colincostello10.
