The Open University and 2AM Ask: 'What's Stopping You?'

Directed by James Caddick through 2AM, the film addresses what it is that stops people from securing their dream job and demonstrates how the OU supports its students.

Designed to showcase the OU’s high quality and flexible education offer, as well as how the university helps its students progress in their careers, the multi-media campaign will encourage potential students to seize the January New Year, New You mindset and take the first step to fulfilling their career aspirations.

Three 30-second ads tell the stories of nine truly inspirational OU graduates from across the UK, who are now pursuing their dream careers thanks to their OU qualification. The students involved were filmed in their homes, local areas and workplaces, with the ads bringing their career paths to life in a compelling way.

James Caddick, Director, 2AM: "I thoroughly enjoyed our 2 week, 9 shoot day road trip to film the Open University graduates. There was an overriding theme to the experience that the graduates we met had a real sense of pride in what they had achieved. Quite rightly so, I was amazed at the dedication and tenacity it had taken them to get their degree qualifications. Everyone we met rated the OU and the support they experienced incredibly highly. They were all bar none wonderful people who gave their all on the day to help get the message out there.

My experience in making the films with both the OU clients and the agency LIDA were fantastic; credit to creative director Spencer, copywriter Jo, account man Alpa and producer Nicola,  everyone involved collaborated in a way that made the project a really special experience. And of course huge thanks to the 2AM team; producer Dale and production manager The G-Man (Gareth) for making it all go like clockwork.

Oh and I also got to see dolphins in Scotland! I’d never seen dolphins in the wild before - that was pretty cool!”

Tom Pugh, sound designer at GCRS: "The key to the Open University series was storytelling. Director James Caddick is great at capturing real people and their stories, and in this instance there was a distinct focus on people bettering their lives through study with the Open University. The film is dynamic and thought provoking, sharing comparative tales of life before and after OU. I worked with a high energy music track that was composed using organic human sounds like clicks, slaps and stomps, and built the sound design around the track so that the rhythm was carried through in an natural way. There is a notable transition from 'before' to 'after', and a strong build throughout the mix maintains clarity and presence of the characters in the film."