Verizon Gaming imagines life in a glitchy world plagued by lag
Spot promoting 5G Ultra Wideband from Madwell took six months to create
Editor's Pick
It’s morning in America. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and sprinklers are sputtering blocky artifacts arrested in mid-air. A paper route gets more interesting with the courier levitating a yard away from their bike. Vans sprout tree limbs, doors refuse to open and cats teleport into signposts as it becomes apparent that this is no ordinary suburb.
A new spot titled "The Reset" for Verizon renders a Matrix-like world where nothing is dependable or static, one that changes like malevolent machines are in control—if the machines were easily distracted.
It’s the physical manifestation of lag, that annoying delay between call and response that has been the bane of gamers since the first network. Pathing problems send people disappearing into walls and vehicles into paroxysms. Eventually, the floor gives way and entire world comes crashing down—a welcome respite from the maddening chaos.
The spot promotes Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband and comes from agency Madwell. Doug Liman directed via Independent Media, with post-production by MPC. The ambitious scenario took six months to create and channels glitches from games over the last few decades. (If only Cyberpunk 2077’s problems were restricted to latency.) It’s running in digital, out-of-home and social placements through Jun. 30.
Credits
- Date
- May 13, 2021
- Client :
- Verizon
- Agency :
- Madwell
- Co-founder / Chief Creative Officer :
- Chris Sojka
- Creative Director :
- Ryan Howard
- Copy Director :
- David Salisbury
- Associate Creative Director :
- Micky Treutlein
- Associate Creative Director :
- Matt Fry
- Associate Creative Director :
- Alex Kaufman
- Chief Operating Officer :
- Sandy Sherman
- Senior Producer :
- Jacquelyn Maloney
- Creative Producer :
- Hilary Krishnan
- VP Client Services :
- Gaby Benitez
- Account Director :
- Colin McKenzie
- Account Supervisor :
- Kristen Paterno
- Strategy Director :
- Ben X. Trinh
- EVP and Chief Marketing Officer :
- Diego Scotti
- SVP and Chief Creative Officer :
- Andrew McKechnie
- VP Marketing Communications :
- Dave Bowen
- Executive Director Consumer Marketing :
- Colby Schneider
- Manager Creative Strategy :
- Will Langenberg
- Manager Broadcast Production :
- Emily Fleischer
- Business Affairs Company :
- Hailstorm
- Founder CEO :
- Michelle McKinney
- Partner Business Affairs Director :
- Christina Rust
- Production Company :
- Independent Media
- Director :
- Doug Liman
- Production Company Executive Producer/Managing Director :
- Susanne Preissler
- Production Company Executive Producer :
- Liam Ahern
- Director of Photography :
- Hoyte van Hoytema
- Editorial Company :
- Lost Planet Editorial
- Editor :
- Saar Klein
- Assistant Editor :
- Danny Conner
- Assistant Editor :
- Steven San Miguel
- Editorial Executive Producer :
- Krystn Wagenberg
- Editorial Producer :
- Casey Cayko
- Post-Production :
- Moving Picture Company
- Creative Director :
- Alvin Cruz
- 2D Lead :
- David Piombino
- 3D Lead :
- Chris Bernier
- Colorist :
- Kristopher Smale
- Producer :
- Gwen Frey
- Producer :
- Nicole Melius
- Managing Director :
- Angela Lupo
- Executive Producer :
- Matthew Loranger
- Production Coordinator :
- Stephen Dierks
- On-Set VFX Supervisor :
- Alvin Cruz
- On-Set VFX Supervisor :
- Brandon Thomas
- 2D Team :
- Tim Crean
- 2D Team :
- Chris Green
- 2D Team :
- Esther Song
- 2D Team :
- Renato Carone
- 2D Team :
- Todd Sarsfield
- 2D Team :
- Mazyar Sharifian
- 2D Team :
- Dylan Nett
- 2D Team :
- Kyle Andal
- 2D Team :
- Gerard Andal
- 2D Team :
- Michael Glen
- 2D Team :
- Chris Gereg
- 2D Team :
- Jeen Lee
- 2D Team :
- Dan Giraldo
- 2D Team :
- Mayank Shekar Tiwari
- 2D Team :
- Satya Narina
- 2D Team :
- Dilipan J
- 2D Team :
- George Gijo Peter
- 2D Team :
- Hanuma Hanumath Prasad
- 2D Team :
- Malligeswaran K
- 2D Team :
- Manideep Sanisetty
- 2D Team :
- Shalwin Shaiju
- 2D Team :
- Vipin Tripathi
- Bangalore Compositing Supervisor :
- Rashabh Ramesh Butani
- Bangalore Compositing Lead :
- Rajesh Kumar Kaushik
- 3D Team :
- Chris Wachter
- 3D Team :
- Roberto Maki
- 3D Team :
- Andrew Boccio
- 3D Team :
- Lucy Choi
- 3D Team :
- Jessie Amadio
- 3D Team :
- Jemmy Molero
- 3D Team :
- Ash Yee
- 3D Team :
- Brandon Thomas
- 3D Team :
- Mirelle Underwood
- 3D Team :
- Andrew Ortiz
- 3D Team :
- Jean Choi
- 3D Team :
- Maximilian Mallmann
- 3D Team :
- Bibin Balin
- 3D Team :
- Richard Morton
- 3D Team :
- Arun Ramkrishna Sharma
- 3D Team :
- Kuntal Kanti Bera
- Bangalore 3D Supervisor :
- Jacob T Oommen
- Bangalore 3D Supervisor :
- Kunal Sarkar
- Bangalore Assets Lead :
- Bibin Balan P
- Bangalore Assets Team :
- Jyoti Prakash Panda
- Bangalore Assets Team :
- Sandeep B K
- Bangalore Assets Team :
- Sandeep Grover
- Bangalore Assets Team :
- Ullas Thunga k
- Bangalore Assets Team :
- Gangadhar Durga Molleti
- Concept Art :
- Roger Hom
- Lead DMP Artist :
- Daniel Bayona
- Bangalore DMP Lead :
- Radhakrishnan R
- Bangalore DMP Team :
- Joyett Granfred Fernandes
- Bangalore DMP Team :
- Sachin Dhapudkar S
- Bangalore DMP Team :
- Shanmugavel V
- Design :
- Stephane Rodriguez
- Design :
- Farid Ghanbari
- Design :
- Gianna Yarull Urena
- Previs Artist :
- Simon Halpern
- Head of Visualization :
- Patrick Smith
- Production Manager :
- Kristen Aasen
- Previs Producer :
- Mary Loibl
- Visualization Coordinator :
- Max Read
- Color :
- Kristopher Smale
- Color Assist :
- Taylor Pool
- Color Producer :
- Caitlin Forrest
- Color Associate Producer :
- Phoebe Torsilieri
- Color EP :
- Meghan Lang Bice
- Bangalore Line Producer :
- Chanakya Chander
- Bangalore Production Coordinator :
- Sahil Sunil Wadhwani
- Matchmove Lead :
- Elangovan Ganeshan
- Matchmove Team :
- Ankit Dheraj Toppo
- Matchmove Team :
- Konduru Achiraju
- Matchmove Team :
- Rais Pinjari
- Matchmove Team :
- Shakti Jadhav
- Matchmove Team :
- Smijumon Viswanathan
- Roto & Prep Supervisor :
- Silambarasan RP
- Prep Team :
- Anand Prakash Singh
- Prep Team :
- Anilkumar Madhavan
- Prep Team :
- Guthikonda Venkateswara Rao
- Prep Team :
- Irshad Abdulla
- Prep Team :
- Jagadeesh Dasari
- Prep Team :
- Putta Mahesh
- Roto Team :
- Abhijith Sekhar
- Roto Team :
- Dibin Dharmendran
- Roto Team :
- Gurram Srinivasulu
- Roto Team :
- Hemanth Munithimma Reddy
- Roto Team :
- Manjunatha Narasimmaiya
- Roto Team :
- Noti Malakondareddy
- Roto Team :
- Saloni Mehta
- Roto Team :
- Selvakumar Somasundaram
- Roto Team :
- Thota Ramaseshu
- Roto Team :
- Vadiraj Kupaneshi
- Roto Team :
- Raghvendra Singh
- Sound Design Company :
- Machine Head
- Sound Designer :
- Stephen Dewey
- Mix Company :
- Lime Studios
- Mix Executive Producer :
- Susie Boyajan
- Mix Senior Producer :
- Kayla Phungglan
- Mixer :
- Jeff Malen
- Mixer :
- Matt Miller
- Mix Assistant :
- Meg Ochs
- Mix Assistant :
- Ian Connie
- Music Track :
- A Life of Illusion
- Performed by :
- Joe Walsh
- Written by :
- Kenny Passarelli
- Written by :
- Joe Walsh
- Courtesy of :
- Ralip Music
- Courtesy of :
- Wow
- Courtesy of :
- Flutter Music
- Courtesy of :
- Sony Music Publishing
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