SAMSUNG "I LOVE YOU"

WIEDEN + KENNEDY PORTLAND
Variety Interview | Ad of the Day




SAMSUNG "GROWING UP"

WIEDEN + KENNEDY PORTLAND
Adweek Send Up | Newsweek

There is something about these simple spots that totally move me. It started with the opportunity to tell a modern love story, in I Love You, something that was developed and honed in during a casting session that felt like performance art. In the session cast exchanged phone numbers, and in character, tried to date each other -- they would send all sorts of texts and then in the end, they read them out loud. What emerged was so fun and compelling that it was built into the narrative. The result sparked an endearing love story that felt a lot less commercial and a lot more like a 60 second short film. Filled with more story than folks are use to packing into 60 seconds.

This opportunity became inspiration in Growing Up, which drew from this cinema love story and built in a metaphoric narrative about breaking up with a former sense of identity. Both spots were nurtured by the Weiden + Kennedy team who for the first time made me think -- 'Im not getting the hang of commercials, but maybe commercials are getting the hang of me.'


Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Portland
Creative Directors: Brandon Davis | Stuart Brown
Copywriter: Derek Szynal
Art Director: Caitlin Alexander
Agency Producer: Deb Drumm
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Isaiah Seret
Executive Producer: Shawn Lacy
Producer: Kim Bradshaw
Director of Photography: Jo Willems (I Love You)
Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler (Growing Up)
Production Designer: Alexis Ross
Costume Designer: Mobolaji Dawodu (Growing Up)
Product Specialist: Gilles de Baillenx
Special FX Make Up: Stephen Bettles (Growing Up)
Editor: Stewart Reeves | Work Editorial
VFX: The Mill
Colourist: Gregory Reese
Mix Company: Lime Studios
Music Supervisor: Chances With Wolves