Miles Jay directs an inventive and spirited rallying cry for small businesses in his latest for Facebook and Droga5.

The longform spot recounts the history of renowned Washington Heights restaurant Coogan’s, a neighbourhood favourite, known for ‘its rich tapestry of life’, told through the eyes of its owner, the 73 year-old Pete Walsh, as he’s forced to close the establishment in the face of the pandemic. 

Miles paints a loving portrait of Pete and his resilient nature while highlighting the admiring Coogan’s staff, punctuated by archival anecdotes from longtime patrons.  

Lensed by the Academy-Award nominated cinematographer, Bradford Young, there’s an energy and craft on-screen rarely seen in commercials. In the spot, we see Pete on a gruelling late-night run which serves as a visual metaphor for his determined spirit giving a life force to the film brimming with heart and soul.  While rooted in documentary storytelling, Miles employed a handheld spotlight effect in a series of brilliantly conceived memory sequences to evoke a sense of loneliness in the bar. Reminiscent of techniques used in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the approach adds an additional dream-like, magical realism layer to the piece.

The spot features an original cover of ‘I Will Survive’ by Lykke Li and evokes a hopeful spirit that is unique to Pete Walsh and Coogan’s while representative of small businesses, their owners, employees and patrons nationwide.  Small businesses are the connective tissue and life blood of our communities which is underscored by Coogan’s Pay It Forward Community fund dedicated to the survival of small businesses in Washington Heights.