Ending Cancer Starts with Hope marked an evolution for City of Hope, helping position the organization beyond its regional roots and introducing its story on a national stage.
Producing the campaign meant matching that ambition with a new level of production. We assembled top-tier talent across directing, editorial, music, color and sound, negotiating highly competitive and, in some cases, unprecedented rates to put as much of the investment as possible on screen. At the same time, I worked closely with the agency and client to build confidence around a larger production investment than they were accustomed to, with a plan designed to deliver significantly more content and long-term value from every shoot day.
The production itself was an exercise in precision and scale. Across a highly choreographed shoot, we managed 16 physicians traveling in from across the country, seven real patients and more than 20-40 extras per day. Physician schedules required the same level of care and efficiency as celebrity talent. Their time on set was literally time away from treating patients and advancing cancer research.
While our primary unit captured the national broadcast campaign, we built a production ecosystem around it, running as many as five additional setups simultaneously. Campaign photography, physician and patient portraits, interviews and supporting content were captured in parallel, allowing City of Hope to build a much broader library of assets from a single production.
The result was more than a TV campaign. It created the foundation for a 360-degree national brand platform spanning broadcast, digital, photography, social and additional content, designed to make every production dollar work harder while elevating City of Hope from a regional powerhouse to a national leader in the fight to end cancer.
Partners:
Director: Rachel McDonald / RSA Films
Editor: Einar / Union Editorial
Sound Engineer: Milos Zivkovic / Union Editorial
Color: Joseph Bicknell / Company 3
Finishing: Hunter
Music Supervisions: Gerry Cuellar / Go Big Entertainment
Music: Fatboy Slim “Praise You”
Reveille Team:
Steve Harbour, Scott Burris, Luke Hodsdon, Courtney Betley, Stephanie Burns, Julie Esler, Brenda Springer, Claire Markovsky, Janel Kennedy, Greg Huffstutter