It's Anything But a Silent Night in DICK's Sporting Goods' Christmas Spot

A new Nike Air Max 270 React has arrived at DICK’S Sporting Goods. But its first overnight turns out to be anything but a silent night. When the sun goes down, the fun heats up. And our store comes alive as “The New Kid” embarks on an epic journey of discovery and play, meeting new friends along the way. It’s all fun and games in this night at the store, until morning shows up and tries to crash the party. 

You can check out the full film below:

Co-Directed by Night at the Museum’s and Stranger Things’ Shawn Levy and Easy A’s Will Gluck, the spot reflects the same magical, energetic and entertaining qualities that has earned the duo three academy award nominations. Quotes from the directors below:

Co-director Shaun Levy said “I was excited to work on this spot as soon as I read the script. I did my very first spot at Pacific Rim Films with Anomaly, and the experience was so gratifying that I was thrilled to collaborate with their exceptional group again. This commercial also felt like the perfect fit for my creative skill set – it reminded me of my Night at the Museum films with the combination of humour, wonder and magic.”  

“I saw the impact that those Museum movies had on audiences, the way they not only increased actual attendance at the Museum of Natural History, but in the way I saw kids looking up at those exhibits. I could see first-hand the deepened connection, the way that inanimate objects were suddenly imbued with life — with the magic inherent in asking “What if…”

“Anomaly and Dick’s Sporting Goods gave Will Gluck and me the chance to work together and create that same magic – to craft a love letter to the secret life of objects and the wonderment that they can bring. It treats sporting goods and the joy they give kids and adults alike with that same movie magic and playful whimsical spirit. As we see a Dick’s Sporting Goods store come alive we reveal the secret life it holds after the employees and customers leave and the store and its myriad of inhabitants come to life.”

You can also check out a 'making of' video below:

And co-director Will Gluck said “I knew I wanted to be a part of making this spot the moment I heard about it, and working with my friend Shawn at our commercial company, Pacific Rim Films, made it even more exciting. We both love a story within a story. This spot is a coming of age journey of a young shoe: waking up and taking her first steps, discovering the world around her as she begins exploring, growing, playing, and ultimately gaining confidence in victory. And all this takes places as a collective of other characters come out to play. We quickly discover this is a nightly event for them: a mixture of fun and sport ensue as they race against daylight and the inevitable curfew — and even worse, humans could discover that they play without them.”

“And all this to be achieved through an extensive mix of CGI animation and live-action filming; a hybrid style which I’ve become enamored of after making my Peter Rabbit films. But this spot was even more challenging, for instead of cute animals we were working with sporting goods which needed to be imbued with personalities, feelings and emotion.” 

“We researched and collaborated with our partners at Anomaly and Dick’s Sporting Goods on how to show a fully CGI shoe, bursting with personality, run down a practical aisle full of motionless real shoes — make it look seamless and consistent, and have the viewer actually feel something. It was a crazy idea from the start, but with this amazing partnership and team I knew we’d pull it off. I can say this for sure — it was an absolute blast to work on.”

Ashley Bernes, creative director at the Moving Picture Company, said “modeling, rigging and animating 46 characters; creating emotion through motion; close collaboration with a world-class production company and agency - this is the sort of work that makes us at MPC tick. Levy and Gluck brought an incredible wealth of experience in both live action and animation which proved critical in defining the rules of this film. It’s rare that a project of this scale has such a profound effect on everyone who worked on it, and I think that shows in this fun, playful and energetic film on screen.”