Sky unveils its most ambitious Christmas TV advert to date, inviting families to Step into the Adventure with Sky Movies this festive season.
The advert, which will premiere on ITV during The X Factor on Saturday 8th November, takes viewers on a magical movie journey following a family and their dog Chester. Viewers will be transported through some of the famous movie worlds that will join Sky Movies this December: Disney’s Frozen, The LEGO® Movie, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted.
The adventurous advert follows the unsuspecting family as they are whisked off on a magical movie tour. Along the way, they transform into a variety of animated versions of themselves, which have been painstakingly created by filmmakers from across the world.
From taking a sleigh-ride through the icy Arendelle landscape from Frozen, to popping-up centre-stage in the middle of the Muppets theatre, the ad follows the family as they are dropped directly into the action and adventure. Throughout their journey, they also come face-to-face with much-loved film characters, including Kermit the Frog (Muppets Most Wanted), Spiderman (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Emmet (The LEGO® Movie) and Olaf (Frozen).
Bringing the films to life even further, Sky is also offering families and movie fans the chance to create their own adventure. From early December, visitors to SkyMovies.com will be able to create a personalised Christmas image that they can share online and send to loved ones, featuring themselves, family and friends with characters from the four movies featured in the advert.
Created by WCRS and directed by critically acclaimed cinematographer, Ivan Bird, who has also created over 60 TV adverts for brands including O2, American Airlines and Nike, the 60 second spot includes bespoke hand-drawn and CGI animations, alongside brand new scenes and characters created especially for Sky Movies in collaboration with Animal Logic, Disney, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros
It took a team of over 130 artists, animators, crew, performers and producers to bring the family to life, working in film studios across the world from California, to New York and London to Sydney. Each animation and bespoke film scene required a huge number of man-hours, with the crew clocking-up over 5,500 hours in total.
Ian Lewis, Director, Sky Movies commented: “Enjoying movies with the family is a big part of Christmas so we decided to bring some of them to life this year. We are very proud that Disney, Warner Bros and Sony have allowed us to work with their creative talent to create special scenes with these iconic characters for our new Christmas ad campaign. It reflects the strength of the partnership we have built with them, working together over many years. Sky Movies is the only movies subscription service where you will be able to enjoy these incredible family adventures whenever and wherever you want this Christmas.”
Leon Jaume, Executive Creative Director at WCRS, commented: “Contrary to popular wisdom, if you want a good Christmas ad, try working with not only children and animals, but also animated snowmen, electrified baddies, Lego superheroes and flying Muppets.”
Ivan Bird, Director, commented: “Being able to step directly into magical film worlds and meet our favorite movie characters, is something everyone dreams of experiencing. Working closely with filmmakers from across the globe to create our very own characters and brand new movie scenes, was an adventure in itself. We worked with animators from Australia to America, to bring our family to life in all their different fantasy film forms.”
The four films featured in the advert will premiere on Sky Movies throughout the Christmas period on the following dates and will be available On Demand and on Sky Go
Familiar characters from each Sky Movies premiere will also appear on outdoor, press, digital and mobile advertising, ensuring a touch of Sky adventure reaches the whole of UK this festive season.
Sky’s Step into the Adventure Christmas campaign, created by WCRS, is available to view here: http://youtu.be/PSA22k1rxlU
Full credits:
Client – Sky Movies
Agency - WCRS
Creative Director - Barry Skolnick and Leon Jaume
Creatives – Dave Cornmell and Jane Briers
Agency Producer – Sally Lipsius
Account Handling – Torie Wilkinson, Laura Hale, Gareth Hughes and Kath Morris
Planning – James Stevens
Media Agency - Mediacom
Production Company – Rattling Stick
Director – Ivan Bird
Producer – Polly Ruskin
Editing House - The Quarry
Editor - Jonnie Scarlett
Post-Production - Finish
Audio - Wave
Sky Movies is Europe's largest in-home movie service providing a fantastic range of movies to its customers. Sky Movies will provide customers with more than 1,000 titles from December On Demand, with up to 5 new Sky Movies premieres added to the service every week - at least a year before they appear on most other online subscription services. Sky Movies gives customers flexibility over what they watch, when and how – live, On Demand and on the move with Sky Go. Sky Movies is also available on NOW TV as well as a range of other platforms including Virgin Media, UPC and TalkTalk.
For further information, please contact:
Sky
Amy Holland
Product and Brand PR
Amy.holland@bskyb.com
020 7032 1498
Fever PR
Hannah Lynch
Senior Account Manager
Hannah.lynch@feverpr.com
020 7792 7478
About Sky
Sky is the UK and Ireland’s leading home entertainment and communications company. Around 40% of all homes have a direct relationship with Sky through its range of TV, broadband and home telephony services.
Sky is the UK’s biggest investor in television content, investing more than £2.6 billion a year in channels such as Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and Sky News. Around two-thirds of Sky’s content spend is invested in the UK and Sky is the fastest-growing source of investment in original British programmes. More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week.
Alongside its commitment to offering customers a greater choice of high-quality content, Sky is a leading innovator. Customers enjoy total control and flexibility over their favourite TV through Sky+, watch TV on the move through Sky Go, and enjoy the best quality TV experience at home through High Definition and 3D.
Sky distributes its content broadly over several platforms, including satellite, cable, IPTV, mobile and WiFi. NOW TV, Sky’s second consumer brand, builds on the company’s leadership in internet TV. Sky is also the UK's fastest-growing home communications company and favourite ‘triple-play’ provider of TV, broadband and home phone.
Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates by taking positive action on the environment, supporting grassroots sports and increasing access to, and participation in, the arts. Sky employs 25,000 people, has annual revenues of £7.6 billion and is estimated to support a £6.0 billion contribution to UK GDP. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (BSY).
