Lights, camera, soda!
A duo of fourth-year film students at Capilano University have made the finals in a contest to craft a commercial for beverage giant Coca-Cola.
Matthew Carew and Mika Heiskanen’s minute-long film The Cinematic Touch is one of five finalists in the Refreshing Films program, representing Canada for the first time in the contest’s 25-year history. After CapU’s school of Motion Picture Arts was selected as one of 52 partner schools across North America, Carew and Heiskanen’s concept was chosen from more than 600 submissions.
Becoming a finalist gave the team a US$18,000 (C$24,200) budget and mentorship through a six-month, real-world experience platform. The students worked with a colourist and marketing professionals, while technical partners gave the students access to a professional camera and other tools.
The process also saw the students working directly with Coca-Cola to make their vision come to life.
“With a big client like that, there’s really strict protocols and ways that they want their product to appear on screen, and different themes and aspects of the film that they want,” explained Carew, who produced the commercial. Heiskanen was the writer and director.
The experience also allowed the pair to hire 50 of their classmates to work on the film.
“That was a really cool experience,” Carew said. “It felt very much like we were in the real world making a real commercial for Coca-Cola.”
During the filming, Carew said he leaned on the skills he learned at CapU, which included budget management, location management and creating a corporation for liability purposes.
“It was really cool to apply those to an actual commercial setting,” he said.
The commercial itself focuses in on the hands of three students as they go about their busy days, and are deserving of a break: a trip to the movies complete with friends, popcorn and a Coke.
Now, the pair are vying for one of two prizes: a panel-selected-grand prize and an audience-voted favourite. Past grand prizes have included professional filmmaking equipment and the opportunity to have the winning commercial screened in theatres. The winner will be announced in May.
Cast your vote for Carew and Heiskanen on the Refreshing Films website.
