Written by Tom Deehan on Mar 23, 2017. Posted in General Interest

Craftworks: The impact of This Girl Can and uncovering the Guardian’s Three Little Pigs commercial

The David Reviews and APA hosted event, Craftworks, returned for its largest iteration to date at the London School of Economics. Boasting a roster of six independent panels, the event covered a variety of production types including commercials, shorts films, feature films and even web-based content.

Yesterday’s panels included:

The Craft Panel – This Girl Can

Since its release in late 2015, FCB Inferno’s This Girl Can campaign has become a viral sensation, racking up more than 37 million online views and securing a sequel that launched just over three weeks ago.

The spot encourages women of all ages, sizes and backgrounds to get involved with sports and exercise. Statistics compiled a year after the spot’s premiere show that it encouraged 1.6 million women to commit to regular exercise.

The Crossover Club – Jim Hosking

Jim Hosking made waves last year when his feature film debut, The Greasy Strangler, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film tore audiences and critics apart, with some comparing it to the works of John Waters while others were disgusted by its outlandish content. Hosking noted the difficulty of pitching such an oddball concept to a studio, but applauded the film’s cast and producers for having faith in the project.

Moving away from the B-Movie style of The Greasy Strangler, Hosking’s next film, An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn, is a comedy with an all-star cast including Aubrey Plaza, Emile Hirsch and Jermaine Clement.

Charles Muzard

As a frequent contributor to the comedy video website, Funny or Die, Charles Muzard is no stranger to producing content to be consumed exclusively online. Muzard did note however that while the internet provides fantastic opportunities for creatives who are breaking into the industry; it can’t always provide a sustainable form of income.

Commenting on the fleeting nature of viral content, Muzard explained: “writing a script for the internet is like writing on toilet paper, it’s here one minute and gone the next.”

Homespun Yarns

Now in the third year of its UK-based short film competition, Homespun Yarns provides a crucial platform for new filmmakers who are looking to take their first step into the industry.

Last year’s winner, Thomas Ralph, explained how the Homespun brand allowed him to pull favours in acquiring pieces of kit before filming on location in Dorset. Ralph’s film, Darkest Hour, tackled the EU Referendum from the perspective of local teenagers.

Introducing... Danny Capozzi

Having worked as a freelance animation director for Aardman over the last 15 years, Danny Capozzi’s understanding of the UK animation industry is second to none. In his latest short film, Danny utilised stop-motion, live action filming and animation as a showcase for the variety of production types that Aardman can provide.

The Reunion – Three Little Pigs, Guardian

The team behind the Guardian’s Three Little Pigs commercial were reunited, alongside ex-Editor of the Guardian himself, Alan Rusbridger, to talk about the creative process behind the award-winning spot.

Rusbridger noted how the commercial was released during a hectic time for the Guardian, which was: “post-wiki leaks, pre-Snowden and mid-phone hacking.”

The team recalled how the shoot itself was particularly demanding, encompassing 28 hours of work in two days.