McCann Melbourne’s Emotional Trailer campaign for last year’s Melbourne International Film Festival won 3 Lions at Cannes last month. The 2015 MIFF campaign, created by McCann Melbourne and produced by Airbag Productions won Gold, Silver and Bronze Lions. That’s a lot of acclaim to outdo.
The 2016 campaign, for MIFF’s 65th festival, also uses real fans to underline MIFF’s appeal. And McCann has found another inventive way to do that. The creative is built around the idea that MIFF presents Films that stay with you, a testament to the quality of its selection and a cue that the festival is very much a worthwhile experience.
To turn the idea into a compelling campaign, McCann had MIFF create its own film – the recreation of one fan’s memories of a film he watched at the festival 16 years ago.
Keith Gove ‘s memories were chosen from responses to a social media call out by McCann and MIFF, asking fans to share memories of films from the many years of MIFF that had stayed with them.
Keith Gove’s memory was of the Takashi Mike thriller, Audition. And the chosen scene was directed, styled, and edited to recreate the memory that has lived in Gove’s mind since he watched the film at MIFF, once, back in 2000.
Gove, who has no previous filmmaking experience got to work with established director, Stephen McCallum, to learn about the process of film production, and Airbag Productions brought his completely remembered remake to life.
The resulting film forms the focal point of the 65th MIFF campaign, and demonstrates that MIFF films really are Films that stay with you.
McCann Melbourne Executive Creative Director Matt Lawson commented, “Keith Gove was a godsend. Not only did he produce a stellar performance, having never acted before, he was also not put off when we asked him to direct for the first time, from memory, and play every role. With brilliant director, Stephen McCallum’s, two-week master class in film, and a steady guiding hand, he produced something truly unoriginal.”
Gove added, “As a boy from Frankston, MIFF was always my window to another world. For me the challenge was trying to pull the pieces of my memory together, so long after seeing the film. I’m just hopeful I haven’t ruined the memory of Takashi’s masterpiece for others.”
In addition to the online film, the campaign includes cinema, out-of-home, a movie trailer and social media.
Credits
Agency: McCann Melbourne
Managing director: Adrian Mills
Chief creative officer: Patrick Baron
Executive creative director: Matthew Lawson
Senior copywriter: Charles Baylis
Copywriter: Chesney Payet
Art director: Corey Thorn
Head of broadcast: Victoria Conners
Producer: Simone Greentree
Social director: Chris Baker
Account director: Alex Haigh
Senior account manager: Emma van den Berg
Illustration: Big Photographic Ltd
Illustrator: Adrian Johnson
Producer: Alastair Coe
Festival Trailer: The Trace House
Editors: Terence Race & Chris Brown
Music: Electric Dreams
Composer: Pascal Babare
Producer: Dannielle Thiris
Online content, Films that stay with you: Airbag
Managing partner: Adrian Bosich
Director: Stephen McCallum
Producer: Johanna Rayner
Co-director/talent: Keith Gove
DoP: Adam Howden
Editor: Graeme Pereira
Online editor: Nick Wright
Colourist: CJ Dobson
Sound and Music
Sound designer: Paul Shanahan
Music composer: Paul Ruske
Audio post producer: Laura Hesse
Radio: Triple R
Production: Triple R
