Most of the brand talk around 9/11 this year was about marketers doing it wrong. But DDB New York and the New York City Ballet quietly did it right with a wonderful tribute called "New Beginnings," intended as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and a tribute to the future of the city.
The video shows NYCB principal dancers Maria Kowroski and Ask la Cour performing on the 57th-floor terrace of Four World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. The backdrop, of course, is One World Trade Center. The dancers perform an excerpt from choreographer Christopher Wheeldon's poignant "After the Rain" pas de deux—signifying new beginnings in New York City.
The film, directed by Davi Russo and produced by Radical Media, was posted at sunrise (6:34 a.m. EST) on Sept. 12 to NYCB's social channels, with the hashtag #NewBeginnings. "Our hope is that 9/12 can now be rebranded as a day of optimism and new beginnings," says Matt Eastwood, chief creative officer of DDB N.Y.
Check out the film, and full credits, below.
CREDITS
Client: New York City Ballet
Project: "New Beginnings"
Agency: DDB, New York
Chief Creative Officer: Matt Eastwood
Executive Creative Directors: Menno Kluin, Andrew McKechnie
Art Director: Joao Unzer
Copywriter: Rodrigo de Castro
Management Supervisor: Lauren Neuman
Account Executive: Cindy Nguyen
Head of Production: Ed Zazzera
Executive Producer: Teri Altman
Producers: Nina Horowitz, Zamile Vilakazi
Teaser Editor: Alec Helm
Head of Design: Juan Carlos Pagan
Designers: Brian Gartside, Aaron Stephenson
Illustrator: Steven Wilson
New York City Ballet
Ballet Master in Chief: Peter Martins
Executive Director: Katherine Brown
Choreographer (After the Rain): Christopher Wheeldon
Principal Dancers: Maria Kowroski, Ask la Cour
Managing Director, Communications and Special Projects: Robert Daniels
Senior Director, Marketing and Media: Karen Girty
Director, Media Projects: Ellen Bar
Production Company: Radical Media
Director: Davi Russo
Editor: Tim Zeigler
Executive Producers: Gregg Carlesimo, Maya Brewster
Producer: Logan Luchsinger