Maser Films

United Way Worldwide--Andy Maser, Director

United Way Worldwide's agency approached me to direct their brand anthem: a :60 and :30 PSA for broadcast distribution. The brief was to show, in a gritty and visceral way, the communities United Way works in, the problems they face, and the impact of the organization's work. The agency's concept used a black and white to color transition to mark the shift from hardship to hope.

We shot over three days with a crew of about forty across several locations in the US. Finding the perfect setting for each scene was key to our effect: a real working soup kitchen where adults and families were actually getting community support, a massive underground brick drainage pipe in a rundown part of Milwaukee, an abandoned trailer park in Mississippi where former residents had left everything behind. Stuffed animals, clothes, family photos, kitchen items—the place was empty but the spirits of its inhabitants remained. Our actors gave moving improv performances in that space, and all of the spaces, that brought it to life in a way a staged set never could have.

Maser Films produced two consecutive cycles of the campaign. Entrusting us two times in a row over the course of 3 years felt like the best endorsement I could ever receive. The honor of being one of Nielsen's top 20 PSAs of the year didn't hurt though.