There are Christmas stories that are told over and over. And then there’s this one for Amazon by Lucky Generals. It’s a Covid story, a timeless achievement story with a classic plot and a Christmas story, fused together beautifully by Prettybird director, Melina Matsoukas. Christmas stories are meant to make everyone cry a little with joy. This one does. As a bonus for a community devastated by the pandemic this year, the film sends a message of hope for the arts. Because we can all extrapolate, that message – expressed in the tagline, The show must go on – has a much broader audience reach.  

Simon Morris, VP global creative at Amazon, stated, “Our TV ad is inspired by, and pays tribute to, the unbeatable human spirit and the power of community that we have witnessed so often this year.” 

The campaign launched in the UK on TV on November 2 with the 60-second commercial. The full 120-second spot followed on November 3, during the first ad break of The Great British Bake Off on Channel 4. There will also be a 30-second cutdown TVC and a 20-second spot running online. 

The production was rather special. Prettybird UK co-founder and executive producer, Juliette Larthe, explained, “The set was fully inclusive, and the crew matched the cast in terms of representation, which was very important to fulfil for comfort and performances required by the on-screen talent. The commercial production also had the client agree to pay for the trainees to attend and learn on the shoot. Prettybird worked with Lucky Generals and Amazon to include 5 trainees, 3 of whom came from ELAM the Arts and Film Academy in East London.”

Taïs Vinolo added, “When I was growing up in the French countryside, there were no young black girls studying ballet with hair like mine, or even on TV, meaning I had no one to identify myself with. Being on this shoot helped so much with this, enabling me to own who I really am, who I want to be and what I represent. I am so proud to have been part of this project since the message of it means a lot to me and even more so in this very difficult time that the world is going through.”

The dance for Vinolo was created by artist, dancer and choreographer, MJ Harper, who worked closely with Melina Matsoukas and Juliette Larthe on the casting and choreography. The film features a unique arrangement of the song, The Show Must Go On, by Queen. 

Matsoukas’s previous directing credits include music videos for Beyoncé’s Formation in 2011, which was inspired by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and led to Matsoukas being the first director to be awarded the Music Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. Matsoukas also received great acclaim for directing the Rihanna, We Found Love, music video, becoming the first solo female director to win an MTV award in the Best Video category and a Grammy for best long-format video. Her feature film, Queen & Slim, was released in 2019 to critical acclaim. Juliette Larthe was also the producer on Matsoukas’s We Found Love for which she also picked up a Grammy Award.  

While shopping for gifts for family and friends on Amazon UK, customers can support one of more than 30,000 participating UK charities by starting at smile.amazon.co.uk on a web browser, or by activating AmazonSmile in the Amazon app on iPhones and Android phones. AmazonSmile has donated more than £4.6 million to UK charities and more than $215 million globally to hundreds of thousands of charitable organisations.

Credits 

Agency: Lucky Generals
Creative Directors: Lee Smith & Nick Bird
Creative: George Allen

Head Of Film: Joe Bagnall
Assistant Producer: Camilla Hempleman
Founder: Danny Brooke-Taylor
Business Director: Minnie Vaughan

Production Company: Prettybird Uk
Director: Melina Matsouka

Executive Producer & Lead Producer: Juliette Larthe
Executive Producer: Ted Thornton
Head Of New Business: Mia Powell 
Line Producer: Marian Mikhail
Production Manager:  Benji Landman
Production Co-Ordinator: Jess Glaus
Director’s Assistant: Yazz Anderson-Moore
1st Ad: Tina Fratnik

Director Of Photography: Rina Yang
Production Designer: Jahmin Assa
Art Director: Barbara Ayozie Fu Safira
Post Production Supervisor: Neil Cunningham
Movement Director: Mj Harper
Casting: Kharmel Cochrane

Starring: Tais Vinolo, Tamsi, Yasmine Holness-Dove, Anthony Aris Asola, David Anthony, Paris Kelly & Mj Harper

Client: Amazon 
VP Global Creative: Simon Morris
WW Executive Creative Director: Jo Shoesmith
GM EU Integrated Marketing: Ed Smith
Senior Campaign Manager: Jennifer Finch
Creative Program Manager, Global: Jennifer Orrestad
Senior Creative Program Manager, Global: Kara York 
Senior Campaign Manager, Global: Kelly Mcfarren

Service Company: Division 
Executive Producer: Rok Burkovec
Line Producer: Benjamin Begovic
Production Manager: Alenka Protic

Editors: Andrew Morrow & Rebecca Luff

Post-Production: ETC 
Audio Post Production: 750mph
Sound: Sam Ashwell 
Music Composition: Peter Mauder

Colour: Company 3
Colourist: Tom Poole
Colourist Producer: Alexandra Lubrano