Thirteen & Co director, Armand de Saint-Salvy, put himself on the world stage first with his Crash the Doritos spot, Manchild, which made it into the finals in December 2014.
One year later, he gave himself a second chance at Super Bowl glory, with his Doritos film, Sharing.
This year, there was no Doritos contest, but Saint-Salvy has found another way to get his work talked about. His film, The Big Deal #EqualLove, for equal rights and marriage equality has gone viral throughout the world. Of course, its timing could not be better. The film was launched at the beginning of Mardi Gras in Sydney.
In the film, Saint-Salvy uses the very Aussie metaphor of tomato sauce vs barbecue sauce to discuss being LGBTQIA+. It does rather understate the issue, but it gets its emotional point across and has been cheered by the LGBTQIA+ community.
And the direction and dialogue are superb. Saint-Salvy has achieved perfectly balanced performances from every member of the cast.
Australia still doesn’t have marriage equality, so the idea of capturing such an important message in a very familiar Aussie setting has triggered an incredible reaction and outpouring. More than 3 million people watched the video in its first 5 days.
The film was written, directed and edited by Armand de Saint-Salvy and has already been adopted by the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, who made this statement about it, “Mardi Gras this year is about creating life quality and happiness, not just sexual or marriage equality, but for everyone, regardless of race, gender, religion or sexual identity. Armand’s film really embodies that spirit, and we felt compelled to support it.” The film was released on its Facebook page and has been receiving applause ever since.
Saint-Salvy commented, “In the lead up to Mardi Gras, we thought there was a great opportunity to contribute to the chorus of voices calling for equality. We wanted to make a film that speaks to everyday Australians. A spot that would entertain them, but is laced with a clear social conscious subtext.”
Thirteen and Co’s executive producer, Roy De Giorgio added, “We wanted the film to feel real to contrast the absurdism of the idea. Armand crafted natural performances and shot voyeuristically to enhance this sense of peering into reality.”
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