Three Spots By Food Chain For Publicis Sanchez & Levitan’s ONDCP.

Three new spots directed by Food Chain Films’ Vance Malone for Partnership for a Drug-Free America have begun airing in the Hispanic Market as part of ONDCP’s National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. One of the spots, “The Investigator” has also been picked up by The Partnership/ONDCP for General Market release on January 1st 2004. Embodying aspects of a feature film trailer and shot in cinemascope, the spots denote a sophisticated departure from the typical anti-drug commercial style. Each of the spots will air in :30 and :15 versions.

Communicating parental monitoring tatics that can be used to prevent kids from using drugs, The Partnership’s vivid, new “Heroes” campaign was different from the start, representing a conceptual collaboration masterminded by Publicis creative David Hopson and developed by Food Chain director Vance Malone. To differentiate The Partnership in the market and lend credibility to the “anti-drug” message, Food Chain was called upon to create the feel of three unique feature film trailers within the boundaries of three :30 spots. “Deconstructing a motion picture trailer and translating it into an advertising message offered a multitude of challenges,” Vance reveals.

Unlike a typical feature trailer where highlights can be culled from the larger story, for the The Partnership trailer-mercials, the iconic moments had to be developed, filmed and then plausibly pieced together. For each spot, Malone scripted feature-film style back-stories for each of the characters with the Publicis creative team of Raffa Rodriguez and Michel Rothschild. The script and back-story allowed each character more depth and personality than their 10 seconds on-screen would normally allow, resulting in pieces of the highest emotion and intensity. A cast of 20 was employed
for the one-day/three-night shoot in Dallas, Texas.

Intricately walking the line between commercial and film, the credibility of the The Partnership campaign relied upon the editorial and composition components as well. Crisp, original soundtracks by Portland composer Auditory Sculpture provided the resounding backdrop. The cinematic feel was conveyed through clever editorial from Dallas’ own Fast Cuts.

“Publicis really gave me the freedom to create movie scenes,” says Malone. “We were able to step out of advertising for a moment, and into film.”