Christmas Past Recreated for Coca-Cola

Working via Argentine agency Santo, Passion Pictures NYC partnered with MPC NY to spread the gift of holiday cheer in an all-new campaign for Coca-Cola.

Directed by Passion’s Sam Mason, and Creative Director Pete Candeland, the campaign is heavily influenced by the work of Norman Rockwell, Haddon Subdblom, and advertising campaigns from the 1930s & 1950s. Led by Passion’s creative team, the partnership with MPC allowed the two companies to combine their resources, deftly translating this evocative style into a fully CG world with a contemporary twist. The spot opens on Santa Claus and his elves, hard at work preparing for his big ride on Christmas Eve. Santa however, takes a moment to convince the viewer to help him spread the spirit of Christmas to everyone through small acts of kindness.

 

Passion worked closely with MPC to bring the Directors’ vision to life, housing Passion‘s modellers and previs artists under the roof of MPC’s NYC studio during production to get the most out of the collaborative efforts. Together the two teams created a veritable deluge of assets for the final piece, including nearly 20 characters, seven environments, and hundreds of props.

“The combined firepower of Passion and MPC was perfect for this project, allowing the companies to assemble the very best in each discipline.” Noted MPC managing director Justin Lane. I’ve been eager to connect with the talented people at Passion over the last few years and this turned out to be the right opportunity to partner.”

 

Director Sam Mason reflects on his favourite scene, that of ‘Santa’s workshop. ‘There is really an unbelievable amount of detail in there, and we didn’t stop adding until the last minute. Santo and Coca-Cola were really open to collaboration and letting our imaginations run wild.’

Credits

Client: Coca-Cola Latin Business Unit

Agency: Santo
Producer: Leandro Sussman
General Creative Directors: Maximiliano Anselmo/ Sebastian Wilhelm/ Matias Ballada
Coca Cola Production Unit: La Verde Pro

Production Company: Passion NYC
Director: Sam Mason
CD: Pete Candeland Designer(s): Sam Mason, Pete Candeland, Stephanie Davidson, Gordon Waltho, Lindsay Meyer Berg, Painting Practice, Felicie Heymoz
Storyboard Artist(s): Paul Bonanno, Dennis Moran
Matte Paintings: Painting Practice
Modeling: Tom Cushwa, Mario Ucci, Mattias Bjurstrom, Ellie Bond, Ian Brown, Dan Fine, Sylvia Apostol, Han-Chin Lee
Previs: Josh Delaney
Editor: Maria Diakova
Producer: Eve Strickman
EP: Belinda Blacklock

VFX: MPC
Executive Producer: Justin Brukman
Head of Production: Derek Macleod-Veilleux
Senior Producer: John Skeffington
Head of CG: Vicky Osborn
Lighting Lead: Bill Dorais
Lighters: Jimmy San, Mike Marsek, Jeff Chavez, Kevin Lu, Chris Bernier, Susie Hong
Animation Lead: Graeme Revell
Animators: Jacob Fradkin, Ross Scroble, Ty Coyle
Lead Compositor: Mikael Pettersson
Compositors: Sang Lee, Jonathan McKee
Rigging Lead: Andres Weber
Riggers: Lukas Wadya, Mike Amleuxen, Kate Kirby-O’Connel
Texture Artist: Emma Taylor
CG Modelers: Ajai Verghese John, Anbarasu Elangovan, Kunal Sarkar, Sumesh Chammancher, Bibin Balan P
CG Texturing Artists: Inigo Vimal Roy, Raju Ganesh S.

Telecine: MPC
Colorist: Adrian Seery

Sound Design: Q Department

Mix: Heard City