Coca-Cola ‘Unity’
SMITH & FOULKES
Directing duo Smith & Foulkes of Nexus Productions have created an exhilarating 3D 30-second commercial for Coca Cola’s sponsorship of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
‘Yao and LeBron’ will be aired on NBC on 11 July and features basketball sensations LeBron James and Yao Ming. Smith & Foulkes have captured within the film all of the vibrancy and energy of the different eastern and western cultures infusing it with a sense of healthy competition resulting in a film that is both extremely theatrical and atmospheric.
Using state-of-the-art software nearly 40 iconic and complex characters were modelled in tremendous detail taking over 4 months to produce and representing all that is great about both cultures in an exciting face-off. Lebron and Yao are seen presenting symbols of their culture in an effort to ‘out do’ each other until they both reach for the same thing, a bottle of Coca Cola. Both stars were involved in the development of their 3D alter egos and the live action scenes at the end of them both were shot in LeBron’s home state of Ohio.
Smith & Foulkes added; “This crazy project was like an intensive storytelling workout - how to introduce the characters, then develop a playful cultural face-off which escalates to epic proportions before everything is stripped away to leave two guys enjoying a Coke. All in 30 seconds. It was important to ramp up this frenetic pace so that when the Cokes appear we could feel the moment of relief. We've worked with 3D caricature before but it was useful this time when we did the live action to meet and study the guys face to face. Obviously they appreciated our intimate British knowledge of basketball”.
CLIENT
Director, Worldwide Sports & Entertainment Marketing
Group Director, Film & Music Production
Manager, Global Creative Communications
Manager, Football & NBA Corporate Marketing, Strategy & Innovation
Senior Manager, Marketing Communications
AGENCY
Creative Director
Creative
Creative
Agency Producer
Account Supervisor
PRODUCTION
Directors
Executive Producer
Producer
DP
FLAME COMPOSITING
LIVE ACTION GRADE
SOUND DESIGN AND MUSIC
For further information, please contact Bella Hignett @ CK Publicity
bella@ckpublicity.com +44 (0)20 7580 5058