Derek Picken the Aussie connection to Cannes Cyber Grand Prix winner from Passion Pictures

The fancifully-told story of a lottery win has become a 2016 Cannes Cyber Grand Prix win for Passion Pictures.

‘Night Shift’, created for the Spanish lottery and directed by Againstallodds (one half of which is Melburnian Derek Picken, pictured below left, with co-founder Niklas Rissler), was awarded the Grand Prix in the Cyber category. The charming animated film tells the story of a night watchman (Justino) at a mannequin factory, who leaves messages for his daytime co-workers (with whom he never interacts) through the comical posing of the otherwise inanimate figures.

The story of Justino was described by Jury President Chloe Gottlieb (co-executive creative director of R/GA U.S) as both ‘at the level of Pixar’, and ‘not a TV spot put on YouTube’. The film itself was supported across multiple digital channels, with each piece of the puzzle tailored exclusively to optimise each medium.

With more than a million views in its first 24 hours, Justino’s story was literally an overnight success. It’s was ably backed by a deft and responsive social media campaign, which stayed abreast of trending topics such as the ‘black and blue or white and gold’ dress debacle (the dress was featured on one of the mannequins), and the Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiere (Justino featured costumed as Darth Vader).

Passion Pictures are naturally thrilled to have been part of a project which has been touted by the BBC as ‘ad that won Christmas’. Says Passion Pictures Melbourne EP Katie Mackin: “It’s heartening to see beautiful storytelling being awarded, and so amazing to see the added dimension and depth the various digital channels can provide.”

Contact Katie Mackin at Passion Pictures Melbourne to enquire about working with Againstallodds locally.