Therapy's Kristin McCasey Cuts Wells Fargo

The twitter-sphere lit up earlier this month when “Achievements” for Wells Fargo hit the airwaves; with comments like, “Wells Fargo ad made me cry,” “Wells Fargo just made me tear up” and “this is the greatest ad I’ve seen in a while.” “When people talk, great things happen” is theme of this spot and Therapy editor Kristin McCasey has them doing just that with a :60 created by DDB and Los Angeles-based editorial and post-production company Therapy Studios for Wells Fargo. Led by Executive Creative Director, Will Hammond, and expertly edited by McCasey the spot is part of an integrated national print, outdoor, and broadcast campaign for Wells Fargo featuring great achievements throughout history.

 

View the spots: http://youneedtherapy.tv/reel/press-reel-i-wells-fargo

The power of “Achievements” to move people is largely in part to the brilliant selection of “firsts” that strategically pluck both the nostalgia buttons and the heart-strings combined, with footage of the Wright Brothers first successful flight, a woman hearing the sound of her own voice for the first time, the rover landing on Mars, and a mother listening to her newborn softly cooing. Intensifying the emotion of the images is a delicate balance of original music by Hum and Therapy’s AICP award-winning sound designer, Eddie Kim that glides the viewer from one important “first” in history to the next. McCasey says of the musical process, "Music for me is an integral part of most every project I work on, and this is especially true for this campaign. We worked with Hum to score an original track that peaked at just the right times and then pulled back at others to let each particular moment sink in without being heavy handed. This was the creative challenge for the spot in general. We wanted to be impactful without being too forceful.
Our creative director, Will Hammond, helped to keep us from crossing that line."

"Achievements" was an extremely satisfying project to work on, particularly because I believed in the creative, but also because the journey to actually select each important achievement that made the cut of the final spot was a "Great Achievement" in itself. We spent months scouring the Internet, DVDs, and even Beta SPs for the best images and quotes to convey the powerful emotion and message. It was a real team effort and it paid off,” says McCasey of the creative process with DDB.

DDB knew what they wanted when selecting McCasey for the job; not just for “Achievements” but also as a director for their Wells Fargo spot, “Numbers.” A respected editor and thoughtful storyteller, Kristin’s intuitive style has afforded her the opportunity to edit for directors such as Jerry Zucker, Janusz Kaminski, Errol Morris, and acclaimed photographer/director James Minchin III, and allowed her to build a body of commercial work that includes national brands such as KIA, Miller, VISA, Gamefly and Sony. Now as both editor and director for “Numbers,”


McCasey creates a warm, friendly and comfortable conversation about a not-so-comfortable topic, one’s credit report. She weaves together a host of quirky and beautiful images to depict how numbers, including our credit score, are important to our life.

McCasey was elated to be asked to direct the spot for DDB and adds, "I love the opportunity to be involved in the creative process before the dailies hit the edit bay. I think directing makes me a better editor, and vice-versa." Her foray into the directing world started with a music video for Jarvis Cocker’s “Black Magic, and has recently been supplemented by a short comedy film, originally written for the live stage of Upright Citizen's Brigade (UCB), which she both directed and edited. Currently she is editing her first feature film, as well as an inspiring spot for ESPN Woman called "Show Up To Win."

Credits

Wells Fargo "Achievements"
Ad Agency: DDB California
Exec Creative Director: Will Hammond 
Creative Director: Kevin McCarthy
Art Director: Stewart Wade
Head of Production: Vanessa MacAdam 
Production Company: Licensed footage. 
Editorial & Post: Therapy Studios
Editor: Kristin McCasey
Assistant Editor: Jake Shaver, Thomas Tedesco 
Sound Designer: Eddie Kim
Sound Mixer: Lihi Orbach


Online: Omar Inguanzo
EP: Joe DiSanto
Design, Color & VFX: Luma Pictures

Wells Fargo "Numbers"
Ad Agency: DDB California
Exec Creative Director: Will Hammond 
Creative Director: Kevin McCarthy
Art Director: Stewart Wade
Copy Writer: Andrew Hajjar
Head of Production: Vanessa MacAdam 
Production Company: Therapy Studios 
Director: Kristin McCasey
DP: Barry Norwood
EP: Joe DiSanto
Producer: Jesse Rivard
Production Manager: Margaret Ward
Color: Company 3
Colorist: Sean Coleman
Editorial & Post: Therapy Studios
Editor: Kristin McCasey
Assistant Editor: Jake Shaver, Thomas Tedesco Online: Omar Inguanzo
Compositing/VFX Artist: Dustin Bowser Sound Mixer: Lihi Orbach
EP: Joe DiSanto