Title	COCA-COLA - OPEN LIKE NEVER BEFORE
Brand	THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
Product/Service	COCA-COLA
Category	A01. Direction
Entrant	72ANDSUNNY Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation	72ANDSUNNY Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production	NEW LAND London, UNITED KINGDOM
Post Production	CABIN EDITING COMPANY Santa Monica, USA
Post Production 2	WAVE STUDIOS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Post Production 3	THE SMC GROUP London, UNITED KINGDOM
Post Production 4	GLASSWORKS Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Sara Gallego	The Coca-Cola Company	Head of Projects Content Marketing Manager
Carine Harris	The Coca-Cola Company	Head of Content Production
Carlo Cavallone	72andSunny Amsterdam	Executive Creative Director
Laura Visco	72andSunny Amsterdam	Deputy Executive Creative Director
Emiliano Trierveiler	72andSunny Amsterdam	Creative Director
Renee Lam	72andSunny Amsterdam	Designer
Masaya Kochi	72andSunny Amsterdam	Designer
Constanze Bilogan	72andSunny Amsterdam	Writer
Sarah Sutton	72andSunny Amsterdam	Director of Strategy
Armando Potter	72andSunny Amsterdam	Strategy Director
Charlotte Rubesa	72andSunny Amsterdam	Comms Strategist
Rob Conibear	72andSunny Amsterdam	Group Brand Director
Angelina Joy	72andSunny Amsterdam	Brand Director
Marie Henaff	72andSunny Amsterdam	Brand Manager
Mauro Sala	72andSunny Amsterdam	Brand Coordinator
Jennifer Cursio	72andSunny Amsterdam	Executive Producer
Eline Bakker	72andSunny Amsterdam	Sr Film Producer
Nili Zadok	72andSunny Amsterdam	Sr Producer
Selam Kehishen	72andSunny Amsterdam	Business Affairs Director
Gustav Johansson	new-land London	Director
Indra Herö Wide	new-land London	Director
Marcus Ibanez	new-land London	Director
Martin Rudh	new-land London	Director of Photography
Steve Annis	new-land London	Director of Photography
Jamie Ramsay	new-land London	Director of Photography
Trine Pillay	new-land London	Producer
Mia Tidlund	new-land London	Producer
Christabelle Stone	new-land London	Production Manager
Sam Ostrove	Cabin Editing Company	Editor
Emma Backman	Cabin Editing Company	Editor
Ed Downham	Wave Studios London	Sound Designer/Mixer
Parv Thind	Wave Studios London	Sound Designer/Mixer
Blake Huber	Glassworks Amsterdam	Lead 2 D Artist
Alexis da Camara	Glassworks Amsterdam	2 D Artist
Scott Harris	Glassworks Amsterdam	Colourist
Jamie McCubbin	Glassworks Amsterdam	VFX Producer
Anya Kruzmetra	Glassworks Amsterdam	Chief Operating Officer
Marta Carreras Cancelo	The Coca-Cola Company	Creative Strategy Director
Walter Susini	The Coca-Cola Company	Senior Vice-President, Marketing, EMEA

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

Through a poem co-written and performed by British artist George The Poet, the anthem film invites us to challenge the so-called new normal, to stay open and bring renewed optimism for the change ahead. To the sound of a rendition of the 1960’s iconic track “San Francisco”, we follow George performing his own words. But as the film progresses, different people join in, young and old, from all walks of life and parts of the globe. Each person makes a part of the poem their own, challenging the old notions of work, family, travelling, body and race awareness, gender, immigration, sexuality and female leadership, all in one continuous, poetic flow. The film ends with George and a last statement of optimism from Coca-Cola: “We’ll weather this storm, so I’ll be open like never before”.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

After a 3-month pause in their advertising and channeling $100 million to COVID relief efforts, Coca-Cola launched its first brand statement with Open Like Never Before. Created and produced during lockdown, the film was shot and finished remotely within 6 weeks and has been launched in over 40 countries, after Coca-Cola and other global companies joined a social-media embargo in response to the spread of racial slur and hate speech online. The poem was co-created with George the Poet, and references a few ongoing social and cultural themes, such as the Saudi Arabian female empowerment movement, the racial equality protests and the rise of female world leaders in times of COVID (as a cameo, it features the photo of George’s grandmother, Joyce Mpanga, a Ugandan politician and activist for women’s rights).

Tell the jury anything relevant about the direction. Do not name the director.

The directorial approach was innovative, shaped around the creative ambition, the scope of the project and the lockdown restrictions. The end goal was to deploy a rhythmic, multi-layered rendition of the poem, a piece performed at the same time by one and by many voices, crossing film genres with cinematic realism. A triad of directors defined the cinematic approach and the narrative centrally, creating a consistent yet broad language, that was then executed in a myriad of formats, from film to found (and borrowed) footage, in dozens of different locations by DOPs and cinematographers in five different countries. The film was directed at the same time on the spot and remotely, in a period of five days and in three time zones, with second units shooting in parallel, aiming to achieve a truly global mosaic but keeping the integrity of each individual story and the power of the words.