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 and 1950s. Led by Passion’s creative team, the partnership with MPC allowed the two companies to combine their resources, 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 at MPC’s New York studio during production to get the most out of their collaborative efforts. Together the two teams created a 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,” said 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.”
Mason reported that his favorite scene is Santa’s workshop. “There is really an unbelievable amount of detail in there, and we didn’t stop adding until the last minute,” he said. “Santo and Coca-Cola were really open to collaboration and letting our imaginations run wild.”
Check out the behind-the-scenes making-of video:
MPC – Coke – Making of Christmas from TRUST on Vimeo.
