M&C Saatchi Group Launches THIS. Film Studio
M&C Saatchi Group has partnered with
award-winning documentary makers, writers, producers and digital content
pioneers Michael Lawrence (left) and Nicholas Cook (right) to launch
film and television production studio THIS.
Lawrence
and Cook have established an enviable track record creating
story-driven content and feature documentaries based on The Human
Indomitable Spirit (THIS) including the documentary Bra Boys which saw
box office success and critical acclaim, First Love, Fighting Fear, You
& Me and the TV Series The CREW.
THIS.
already has two projects under its belt: a four-part TV series in
partnership with Ripcurl and a multi-part content drive that brings to
life Subway's involvement with the X Games which will be broadcast on
Channel 7 in October.
"For
us, involving a brand or product goes way beyond co-funding
opportunities. When talent, purpose and messaging are in sync with a
brand's beliefs and values it simply makes sense. When done well, the
model not only gives the film fans, followers and a story that
profoundly resonates with the brand's target audience, it creates a
lasting legacy for the brand."
The pair
has joined forces with longtime collaborator, Taylor Steele (centre), an
award-winning creative and filmmaker whose name is synonymous with surf
culture filmmaking with more than 40 best-selling films in the genre.
Commercially, Steele is best known for his work on Corona's iconic 'From
where you want to be' campaign.
Says Jaimes Leggett, CEO of M&C Saatchi Group: "Mick, Nick and
Taylor are brilliant filmmakers and great storytellers. They have an
impressive back catalogue of work and an inherent understanding of how
to create engaging content for brands. We're already underway on a
couple of new projects which we're excited to share in the coming
months."
Says Cook: "We have been approached to
work with a lot of people but none that shared the vision for what we
want to do in the way that Jaimes did. We knew straight away that
M&C Saatchi was the absolute best fit for us."
Additionally, the studio is working on a series for Nat Geo and a major documentary with an LA-based film studio.
Says
Lawrence: "It's an exciting time to be a storyteller. The three of us
collectively felt there was a gap in the factual long and short form
production market where we could tell the stories we wanted and get
brands and business more authentically involved from the ground floor.
THIS. is
currently working with a slate of celebrated Hollywood directors which
will be announced soon as well as local creative talent including
director Tahyna Tozzi-MacManus (recognised as Best New Talent at St
Tropez Film Festival), writer Derek Riley (author of Wednesdays With Bob
Hawke, co-founder STAB and Beach Gritt), creative/producer Michelle
Owen and writer, communication and branding strategist Sally Steele.
