[Commercial - Western University of Health Sciences | Pharmacy] Western University had a two-fold challenge: they wanted to both elevate their college of Pharmacy and it’s unique value propositions (a 3.5 year program), retain the humanistic branding we’d facilitated with their “Moments That Shape Us” university-wide campaign, while also debunking many of the misperceptions of the broader profession.
The task: develop, script and produce a 0:30 spot that could be cut down into two 0:15s - each with their own unique message.
CUTDOWN 0:15A
CUTDOWN 0:15B
Director: Karl Stelter
Client: Western University of Health Sciences
Production Company: Journeymen Studios
Executive Producers: Karl Stelter
Creative Director: Karl Stelter
Featuring
Pharmacist A: Joyce Hii
Pharmacist B: Jonathan David Maner
Pharmacist C: Olivia Lee
Production
Line Producer: Jared Selcer
1st AD: Liz Holland
2nd AD: Thatcher McMaster
Cinematography: Pedro Bringas
1st AC: Octavio "Tavo" Estrada
2nd AC: Maud Laurent
Steadicam Operator: Anthony Foster
Gaffer: Mitch Storey
Swing: Nam Le
Key Grip: Myles Evenson
BBG: Thorn Shaffer
Production Design: Juliana Collins
Set Dresser: Gray Morgan
Production Sound: David Alvarez
HMU: Megan Lauchner
Production Assistant: Elizabeth MacLeod
Post-Production
Editor: Karl Stelter
Music: Alex Bornstein
Sound Design: Colton Jackson
Color: Arianna Shining Star
VFX: Danny Shepherd
Directors Statement
It was clear early on that this spot needed to be entertaining - you could read online about all the different areas a pharmacist could work, and why it was a great job. But what the audience needs is to be engaged. To feel EXCITED about the prospect of a Pharmacy career and where it could go - and then to lean into the Western University ecosystem for more information.
But to set the stage, we first needed to first show the problem: everyone sees Pharmacists as pill-counters. So…let’s show that stereotype, and then smash it.
Balancing the tone of this spot was by far the most fun element - leaning into the Narrator as a “tour guide who doesn’t actually know the tour” gave us an opportunity to break the fourth wall and have a conversation between him and the Pharmacists as they kindly ‘updated' him (and the audience) on what Pharmacists actually do.
It also allowed us to bring a lot of big, engaging camera moves into the spot - including flying a camera over a boardroom table and zooming into a 1-inch diameter Western University pin. That’s the beauty of a concept like this: overt branding becomes both fun and effective.
