Morgan Freeman narrates this nature documentary about an unnatural new 'species'
The short film from Google and Goodby Silverstein & Partners supports one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals
Editor's Pick
Plastic pollution is on the rise, exacerbated by the piles of discarded face masks and takeout containers generated during the pandemic. Bottles, cigarette butts and plastic bags blowing in the wind and bobbing in the waves, choking beaches and sea life and strangling waterways have become a common sight.
A new short film treats these intruders like a strange new species—a “Blue Planet” for artificial ocean denizens. “Life Below Water” is a project from YouTube, Google, Tribeca Enterprises, the United Nations and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, created to further UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: ocean conservation. And like any good nature documentary, it needs a strong voice to narrate: Morgan Freeman.
Directed by Tribeca filmmaker Brian Schulz, the film’s script leans into the premise, describing the way pollution dances and plays, hunts and spreads. “The creatures in this fascinating species do not have brains, teeth or even simple nervous systems,” Freeman dictates. “But miraculously, they can travel for hundreds of miles and live to be over a thousand years old.”
Beautiful undersea camera work captures bags and bottles in their unnatural habitats, drifting by coral reefs and floating beside sea turtles, who often mistake bags for jellyfish and starve with the indigestible flotsam in their stomachs.
The campaign unfolds over four weeks on YouTube and includes two six-second teasers and four 15-second calls to action, in addition to the short film.
Credits
- Date
- Aug 04, 2020
- Agency :
- Goodby Silverstein & Partners
- Co-Chairmen :
- Jeff Goodby
- Co-Chairmen :
- Rich Silverstein
- Chief Creative Officer :
- Margaret Johnson
- Associate Creative Director :
- Hanna Wittmark
- Associate Creative Director :
- Kate Baynham
- Art Director :
- Eleanor Rask
- Copywriter :
- Trevor Joplin
- Design Director :
- Ryan Self
- Designer :
- Benny Gold
- Managing Partner :
- Leslie Barrett
- Account Manager :
- Emily Bollier
- Partner Head of Brand Strategy :
- Bonnie Wan
- Partner Head of Communication Strategy :
- Christine Chen
- Senior Communications Strategist :
- Jacob Sperla
- Brand Strategist :
- Darien Ahn
- Head of Broadcast Production :
- Leila Gage
- Director of Business Affairs :
- Judy Ybarra
- Production :
- Spacestation
- Director :
- Brian Schulz
- Director of Photography :
- Chris Bryan
- Executive Producer :
- Melanie Paul
- Executive Producer :
- Matthew Mills
- Production Manager :
- Ellie Cano
- Production Assistant :
- Allie Fuller
- Post Production Supervisor :
- Marni Ellis
- Editor :
- Sharika Ajaikumar
- Assistant Editor :
- Chang Wang
- Diving Services Director :
- Robbie Gonzalez
- Diving Services Coordinator :
- Giovanni Gonzalez
- Safety Diver :
- Daniel Alamilla
- Safety Diver :
- Felipe Ancona
- Editorial :
- eLevel
- Editor :
- Graham Willcox
- Assistant Editor :
- Liz Norris
- Director of eLevel :
- Michael Damiani
- Post Producer :
- Allison Lambert
- Audio and Sound Design Company :
- Elias Music
- Music Composer :
- Jonathan Elias
- Sound Design Company :
- Lime Studios
- Sound Designer :
- Joel Waters
- Mix Company :
- Lime Studios
- Audio Engineer :
- Joel Waters
- Assistant Mixer :
- Collin Thomas
- Agency Director of Film and Music Curation :
- Tod Puckett
- VFX :
- eLevel
- Creative Director :
- Mike Landry
- Technical Director :
- Nathan Shipley
- Motion Artist :
- Luke Davisson
- VFX :
- A52
- VFX Supervisor :
- Jesse Monsour
- VFX Supervisor :
- Pat Murphy
- Flame Artist :
- Kevin Stokes
- Flame Artist :
- John Valle
- CG Supervisor :
- Andrew Romatz
- CG Artist :
- Aemilia Widodo
- CG Artist :
- Ariana Ziae-Mohseni
- CG Artist :
- Joe Paniagua
- CG Artist :
- Michael Bettinardi
- CG Artist :
- Josh Dyer
- VFX Producer :
- Drew Rissman
- Executive Producer :
- Kim Christensen
- Executive Producer :
- Patrick Nugent
- Managing Director :
- Jennifer Sofio Hall
- Color Company :
- a52 Color
- Colorist :
- Gregory Reese
- Senior Color Producer :
- Jenny Bright
- Executive Producer :
- Thatcher Peterson
- Partnerships Lead, Sustainable Development Goals :
- Frances Simpson-Allen
- Executive Producer :
- Nina Chaudry
- Coordinating Producer :
- Nikki F. Heyman
- Production Associate :
- Jaimi Cooks
- Partnership Development :
- Jackie Hassell
- Partnership Development :
- Lauren Viola
- Partnership Development :
- Evan Dell’Aquila
- Legal :
- Eileen Rodriguez
- Legal :
- Steve DeLuca
- Finance :
- Joe Pugliese
- Finance :
- Julio Mariano
- Finance :
- Diane Fosten
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