It must have been a complete nightmare directing hordes of children in a chaotic run through the streets, over the buildings, everywhere… was it?
Main challenge: Try not to send kids to hospital when making ad for hospital.
In all honesty, we had a great AD and Stunts department who managed safety to a tee. No injuries on set, and all the kids and families really enjoyed themselves. In fact the hospital considers the making of the films a therapeutic experience for the kids and families.
Some of the performances look as if you couldn’t script them – did quite a bit of the finished film evolve in the edit?
Most of the beats were scripted, but we had a few falls/wipeouts which were not anticipated and of course we had to use them.
What attracted you to this particular charity?
Good cause, good creative, good people.
I’ve been shooting for Sick Kids for the past five years. I’ve spent many weeks if not months at the hospital working closely with staff and families. It’s impossible to describe in words how special the hospital is. Beyond working for an incredible cause, it’s also amazing to work with the hospital marketing team as well as the agency on great creative. The process is very collaborative.
It looks mega budget, and yet it’s a charity ad so we’re assuming the budget wasn’t too huge.
Not a big budget. But lots of big hearts from crew to post stepping up to make things happen with little or no money.
Where are you based now – are you dividing your time between Europe and the States?
Live in Toronto. Writing from Cape Town. My time divided between wherever the jobs go…
