Air NZ ‘feelgood’ campaign

AUCKLAND, Today: Directed by award-winning Jamie Lawrence and produced by Claire Kelly, the Air New Zealand We Fly For You campaign launched on TV, digital and social channels across NZ on Sunday.

In March, Shine Comms and Air NZ appointed production company Eight, along with Lawrence and producer Claire Kelly, to the project.

Auckland-based Eight MD/executive producer Katie Millington said: “The campaign was shot in April and features 30 different narratives featuring over 150 talent, including 100 proud Air New Zealanders.”

Claire Kelly said: “This was a great opportunity for us to get on board and produce what we think is a really great feelgood campaign.

“We worked with an outstanding team to pull this together in a relatively short pre-production period. Jamie did an amazing job, and we are very happy with the end result.”

Jamie Lawrence said: “This has been an incredible story to tell for Air New Zealand – a story that captures the spirit of the age we’re in as Kiwis.

“Eight is proud to be a female-led team.”

“Part of my passion for telling this story is that I wanted people to feel less isolated, and more open and connected to the diversity of the people around them.

“This meant both in front of and behind the camera. We had the privilege of capturing real people in their home, speaking their language; reuniting old friends on screen in real time; along with casting over 100 Air New Zealanders and their whānau.

“At a time when the world is dividing and separating us, this story is about the reasons we fly to connect. It’s the kaupapa of the campaign and I’m so proud to be part of it.”

“It’s an exciting time for Eight on so many levels, it’s incredibly rewarding to see directors like Jamie coming up through our stable and giving them ownership to push into their own creative goals as part of a forward-thinking production company.”

Millington: “Eight is proud to be a female-led team, working with aspirational brands like Air New Zealand, whose rebuild coincides with Eight’s brand rebirth, especially in Australia where they’ve acquired two new rising stars – director Courtney Brookes and producer Jess Belgiovane.”

• View We Fly For You below

CREDITS

Client: Air New Zealand
Agency: Shine Communications
Production Company: Eight
Director: Jamie Lawrence
Producer: Claire Kelly
Executive Producers: Katie Millington and Claire Kelly
Director of Photography: Marty Williams
Editor: Alex O’Shaunessey
Music Publishing Clearance: Franklin Road – Jonathan Mihaljevich
Music Mechanical Performance: Drax Project | UM
Music rearrangement for AV, & Sound Design: Liquid Studios – Pete van der Fluit and Craig Matushka
PR: Trigger

About Eight
Eight is an Australasian film production company founded in 1998 with offices in Sydney and Auckland. We are passionate directors, producers, writers, editors, photographers, designers and visual artists. Almost two decades of film production has seen over eighty local and international craft awards and literally thousands of artists, technicians, creators and innovators through our doors. We’re proud to be in the picture business servicing the advertising industry and we love what we do. At the heart of it, we’re a bunch of creative people with the ardent urge to tell stories, always fighting to get the best work made.

We are a straight-up, down-to-earth production company and we pride ourselves on our no dickheads policy. To this day, our rock-solid rep is the product of our people.

We strive for a workplace that reflects the community in which we live. We have a strong commitment to empowering women in the film industry and we support the 50/50 pledge working towards equal representation of men and women on set.

We will be running our next creative mentorship program in the 2nd half of 2021 and encourage applicants from all backgrounds and community sectors to apply.

• Eight Productions NZ: www.eight.com.au

About Jamie Lawrence
Lawrence is an award-winning performance (comedy & drama) director. After graduating from South Seas Film & Television School, he immersed himself in the vibrant Wellington film industry, working at all levels of production on blockbusters such as Avatar, King Kong, The Lovely Bones, and The Hobbit.

In 2008, he won a scholarship to study at the NYFA film academy in New York. He was nominated for New Zealand’s SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year Award 2012, and the Emerging Talent Award at CAANZ Axis 2016. He was nominated for Best Direction at CAANZ Axis 2017 for his Salvation Army campaign films, which took home a gold, two silvers, and one bronze Axis Award.

• linkedin.com/eight-productions