A classy film for a classy brand. The hero film in Droga5’s new campaign for Hennessy goes far outside the norm, even for alcohol advertising. And as a documentary, it’s an absolute standout.

The two-minute film outlines the rise of Maurice Ashley to his pinnacle achievement twenty-one years ago, the first black grandmaster of chess.

It’s an edgy, experimental film, with a fusion of jazz and hip-hop underscoring its quick cuts and inventive footage by director, Daniel Wolfe, and production company, Somesuch. The film was shot over four days and nights in Mexico City in October last year, on a series of sets built around a small park made to replicate Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

The hero film is supported by a five-minute documentary, in which Ashley’s quest for perfection is portrayed through his motivations and methods.

He states in the film, “The mid ’80s, in New York, in Brooklyn, it was crazy, for me to have chess as an outlet, something that I always wanted to do, that kept me away from the bullets that were flying outside. I was always inside studying chess. I just knew that this was what I wanted to do all the time…”

“…There are more possibilities in chess than atoms in the observable universe. That kind of complexity of the game is what keeps us coming back, again and again—it just simply took over my life.”

The Maurice Ashley compilation is is part of Droga 5’s What’s your wild rabbit? campaign that has been running for a decade, which is held together by the tagline, Never stop. Never settle. It’s Hennessy’s first campaign since 2018. Ashley’s wild rabbit was becoming a grandmaster but also gaining command of his own mind to achieve his goal.

Credits:

Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Co-Chief Creative Officers: Tim Gordon & Felix Richter
Global Head of Art: Alexander Nowak
Creative Director: Thom Glover
Senior Copywriter: Ted Meyer
Art Director: Kamal Collins
Copywriter: Emily Berger
Senior Art Director: Jason Gold

Associate Director of Film Production: Ruben Mercadal
Associate Producer, Film: Connor Hagan
Music Supervisor: Mike Ladman
Director of Business Affairs: Dan Simonetti
Celebrity Talent Relations Lead & Senior Business Affairs Manager: Whitney Vose
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Ann Marie Turbitt

Director of Art Production: Cliff Lewis
Associate Director, Art Production: Bianca Escobar
Global Chief Strategy Officer Jonny Bauer: New Business Will Davie
Strategist: Director Ryan McDaid, Drew Simel & Justin Clagette
Communications Strategy: Dean Challis, Delphine Mckinley, Mariel Milner & Christina Fieni
Data Strategist: Greg Berard
Group Account Director Lindsay Cole
Account Management: Marissa Guerra, Mosito Ramaili & Vanessa Foinquinos
Project Management: Sarah Arrillaga & Danielle Gibbons

Production Company (main films): Somesuch
Director: Daniel Wolfe
DOP: Diego Garcia
Executive Producer: Nicky Barnes
Producer: Adriana Cebada Mora

Service Production Company: The Lift
Partner & Producer: Jose Barrera
Line Producer: Fuad Abed Dalton
Production Manager: Helena Medina

Photography: Second Child
Stills Photographer: Paul McGiever
Managing Director: Scott Chinn
Producer: Chelsea Greenwood

Editorial Company: Cut + Run / The Quarry
Editor: Paul Watts
Assistant Editor: Beau Dickson
Executive Producers: Ellese Shell & Tor Adams
Managing Director: Lauren Hertzberg

Colour: Framestore
Colourist: Simon Bourne
Senior Producer: Chris Anthony

Post Production: The Mill
Director of Production: Andrew Sommerville
Production Supervisor: Heino Henning
Senior Producers: Mandy Harris & Nathan Niamehr
VFX Shoot Supervisors: Dan Williams & Ruben Vandebroek
Creative Directors: Dan Williams & Gavin Wellsman
2D Lead Artist: Keith Sullivan
3D Lead Artist: Yong Chan Kim
Art Director: Fionna Lanning

Music: Q Department

Sound Design & Mix: Wave Studios
Sound Designer & Mixer: Aaron Reynolds
Executive Producer: Vicky Ferraro
Producer: Eleni Giannopoulos

Main Voiceover Artist: Nas
Secondary Voiceover Artist: David Callahan

Chess Consultant: Maurice Ashley

Title Design: Fraser Muggeridge
Historical Researcher: Tamsin Rawady

Production Company (content film): Somesuch
Director: Elliott Power
Executive Producer: Nicky Barnes
Producer: Erin Kennedy

Editorial Company: Cut + Run
Editor: Beau Dickson
Managing Director: Lauren Hertzberg
Executive Producer: Ellese Shell
Producer: Marcia Wigley

Post Production: Jogger

Music: Epidemic Sound & SoStero

Sound Design & Mix: Wave Studios
Sound Designer & Mixer: Aaron Reynolds
Executive Producer: Vicky Ferraro
Producer: Eleni Giannopoulos

Title Design: Dorcia Studios
Creative Director: Daryl Higgins

Additional Photography: Saint Louis Chess Club & Spectrum Studios
Photographer: Kevin Duggin

Client: Moët Hennessy
SVP, Hennessy: Giles Woodyer
Chief Marketing Officer: Michael Aidan
Global VP Marketing, Premium Range: Amanda Hawk
Senior Brand Director, Hennessy V.S: Deon Harris
Senior Director, Media Investments & Partnerships: Seth Zaharako