FReE Thanksgiving

Roles

Creative Direction | Art Direction | Copywriting | Director | VFX

PROJECT DELIVERABLES

OVERVIEW

To give back during the uncertain times of 2020 to 2023, I spearheaded campaigns to provide free Thanksgiving dinners to over 5 million savers, delivering $40 million in cash rewards and donating hundreds of thousands of meals to Feeding America. This involved key partnerships with Coca-Cola, Walmart, JIFFY, Birds Eye, Idahoan Foods and with our sports partnerships with the New Orleans Pelicans and the Denver Nuggets. I conceptualized and directed in-house ads while collaborating with a production company and my internal team to create and direct motion design pieces. These campaigns reached a diverse array of placements and media.

Since masks were required on set but we wanted to avoid showing them directly, I devised the concept of a top-down shot with a slow push that spanned 30 and 15 seconds. This was our first collaboration with Futuristic Studios and involved two highly choreographed single-shot takes. This approach allowed us to convey the feeling of a family being together yet apart, all while keeping the masks out of view.
As COVID restrictions eased, we were excited to showcase actors’ faces again. Despite facing a significantly lower budget this year, we successfully navigated the challenge by conceptualizing and writing all the spots in-house. We executed the entire production internally for just $15K.
I played a key role in executing all VFX for phone screens, TV, and motion design throughout the program. We offset costs through strategic sponsorships. In 2021, Coca-Cola informed us they’d be updating their labels after our shoot, making the original product footage unusable. I resolved this by adjusting all labels in post-production to reflect the new designs.