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SHIT IS REAL
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Dear reader. Welcome to the 2k14 Kennedys book. Unfortunately this is a book. So we can’t take your coat or offer you a drink. But we do invite you to enjoy your stay within these pages. The contents have been made through love, conflict, late nights, and exploding synapses. They represent the best work seven strangers from around the world can do together with the time they were given. Work that sewed them together as brothers. Set them against each other as rivals. And wrote their time together into their memories with indelible ink. As the title says, this shit is real. These are films that people have watched. Words that have been read. Pictures that have been seen. Digital playgrounds that have been played in. And things that clients surprisingly paid for. So, Dear reader, welcome to The Kennedys 2k14 book.
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INDEX
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C A M A Y 1 0 JAKE34 AUDI38 C A R L O 5 6 H E R M Ê S 6 0 CHRIS68 NIKE72 KEES98 ADCN102 H U G O 1 0 8 W + K 1 1 2 ANDY126 CHI128 J O H N 1 3 6 FIFA15XMAS140 5
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CAMAY
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WE MADE 4 FILMS FOR CAMAY - THEY’RE COMING IN 2016 10
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KENNEDY01
JAKE BARNES ‘Hello, my name is Jake’ I say. And I imagine a circle around me of people in cheap plastic chairs. ‘Hello Jake’ they say. ‘I’ve been a Kennedy for around 8 months now’in my head I continue. And the imaginary people slowly applaud me like Alcoholics Anonymous. Because becoming a Kennedy was a life-changing experience. It created that before and after picture from acne commercials. In the before picture I cannot recognize myself. But, in the after picture I see someone I feel I’ve known my whole life. I’ll never forget that. ‘Once a Kennedy, always a Kennedy.’
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AUDI
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BTS - PHOTO&FILM
AUDI
LEAP OF FAITH The talented John Filipe had the opportunity to go to Iceland to shoot additional content for an Audi commercial W+K Amsterdam was shooting there. Little did John know that Iceland is the strangest of countries and landscapes and that our main location guide would be a bearded badass named Thor. Amused that we were dropping a car from Space with a production guide named Thor,we started by using him as our intro character and from there got to the more nuts and bolts of the production with interviews and making of shots. Oh and did we mention John got to ride in the back of speeding Audi while the stunt driver went wild.All in days work.
http://hellojohn.net/Audi-Storm 38
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KENNEDY02
CARLO ZORATTI This is a stock image. It portrays an oceanographer listening to deep ocean whale calls. It portrays a mathematician elaborating the latest Higgins’ boson results nurtured by Eros Ramazzotti classic tunes. It portrays a guy who’s still playing World of Warcraft in his late 40s. Ok, that’s just me. I’ve spent all my life trying to understand who I am. Finally after seven amazing months I know it: I am an oceanographer, a mathematician and a nerd all in once.And none of these things. That’s being a Kennedy. This is a stock image of me iistening to deep ocean whale calls. Uooooaaaaoaouiiiiiiihhhiiihhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiwwwwwwvww
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HERMÊS
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FILM
HERMÊS
BONSOIR PARIS WINDOW Our good friend and former Kennedy Ben Sandler,who also happens to head up Bonsoir Paris, called us to lend a hand documenting a series of windows they designed for Hermes at De Bijenkorf Amsterdam. One of the best parts of being a Kennedy is“once a Kennedy,always a Kennedy”so of course we jumped on board to make a little film for him. Nothing like a quick little shoot on one of the busiest corners of Amsterdam to help a brethren.
https://vimeo.com/114863806 60
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KENNEDY03
CHRIS RUDZ In this very moment I was in my dream. Daily life, reality. On the contrary. It’s fantasy , as humorous as much as lyrical. Beautiful and poetic as reality can be. I was thrown into alien culture, which I found weirdly natural. I could not wish a better gift for myself. I was allowed to simply just be. I found myself sharing space and life with a characters in a subtle but undeniable way. Many of them I consider my friends. I feel safe and welcome.
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NIKE BRAND COMMS
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FILM
NIKE / WE
PROJECTNAME Ballsy. Not a word you hear very often. But a word you know nonetheless. And when Nike Western Europe asked us to create a presentation for them to use at a Nike conference, that’s the first word that sprang to mind. They’d made work with Kevin Durant, who’s the baddest. They’d had Zlatan going against possessed white tigers. And they’d celebrated runners who tried to out run light. Ballsy was a natural fit. Plus, with Western Europe standing for WE, and hashtags being so hot right now in marketing, we decided to wrap the whole thing up, under WE #LIVEBALLSY. The presentation was interesting. Particularly with many of the clients we wanted to describe as ballsy, being women. But, as we pointed out, a ballsy woman is far more ballsy than a ballsy man. And also ended the preso with a big old ‘FUCK YOU’ on the last slide. Classic. Unfortunately selling a concept about testicles to women wasn’t the hard part. As we had to shoot, edit, write, and design everything in a matter of days.
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FILM
NIKE / WE BALLSY FILM
First thing we had to make was a film that would introduce the team. So off we went to the Nike WE HQ with green screens and cameras. And under the swift eyes of Carlo, John, Chris and Andy the WE team was filmed individually, then with the magic of technology, comp’d them into the ads they’d made that year. No one slept that weekend.
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NIKE / WE
BALLSY NEWSPAPER While the moving-picture types made pictures move,Jake,John,and Hugo started working on a newspaper. ‘The Ballsy Times’ it was named with the strapline ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the ballsy-est of times.’ Charles Dickens is still turning in his grave. This was a made up newspaper that would be left in the hotel rooms of people going to the Nike conference. Consisting of articles based on people who happen to have the same names as our clients. Around 2 thousand words later we had news about a range of things. Swimming events being canceled due to good weather, a run that ended in a tie between a man and his multiple personalities, reporters breaking into Hulk Hogan’s house, and even Mike Tyson eating another ear. Super fun to write. Hopefully just as fun to read.
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KENNEDY04
KEES PLATTEL Prior to traveling back to my motherland, I applied for The Kennedys. I got in, and went down the rabbithole, next to the canals of Amsterdam. As good as it felt to be back home, I was still in a international living mode,with all these amazing other Kennedys from around the world. I was a bit a float in the beginning, no clear direction. Halfway in, or out; I finally got a sense of what my role could be and what I was supposed to do. And that was my own fault; but it became more clear what I could do once I found the project that I could own and really make something. All in all, it was an amazing road to discovery. That said, I feel extremely lucky to be introduced into the small world of advertising through this vehicle,and consider my fellow Kennedys worthy friends for life.
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ADCN LAMPEN AWARDS
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ADCN
AWARDS Wieden+Kennedy is known for an indifference towards awards. Sure they’re nice to win. But no one really gives a shit. As awards have become more about masturbation than inspiration a view also shared by the Kennedys. But trust our luck, we ended up being asked by Lampen, the Art Directors Club Netherlands, for help to announce their call for entries. Just goes to show sometimes you shouldn’t judge a client by their profession. As they shared a similar belief and we set out to do the opposite of most award shows. To talk to those who also thought awards were glorified circle-jerks. And prove that Lampen stood for creativity not by saying it. But by thinking like the creatives they wanted to reward. Lampen was rewinding to what it originally stood for. It was reinventing itself. And it was out to reward only those that survive this bat-shit-crazy business of ideas.
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KENNEDY05
HUGO RODRIGUEZ Cuckolded and injured are the two key words that define the history of our silent spanish kennedy.Something between designer,animator and illustrator; something between shy and respectful. Hugo spent the first months of The Kennedys listening and working in silence, trying everything and learning all he could. Passion for the new world which opened his eyes, Hugo always tried to get out of his comfort zone, at the end he had something clear, sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. And he learnt more than the others.
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W+K CULTURE FILM
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FILM
W+K
CULTURE FILM One of the trickiest things in advertising is to successfully advertise yourself. So when W+K was asked to create a video for a client about themselves, we were asked to take a shot. Mark Twain once said ‘write what you know.’ And it was through this quote that we realized why Wieden creates the work it does. It’s not the name on the door. But what the people in this building bring into it. The ones who vandalize it. Cut it up and sew it back together. And alter the DNA just by walking through the front door. That’s where the culture comes from. That freedom and diversity to live the lives you live outside the building, inside it.
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KENNEDY06
ANDY RUDZ My name is Andrzej, I am a filmmaker and my inspiration is “LOVE”. This is how i was introduced to W+K and by chance I became one of Kennedys in the fine year of 2014. I didn’t know that during this period I will learn more about love, support and how to be better every day with what you love to do. Most importantly how to make yourself better. You may ask how is to be one of The Kennedy’s? It’s a mixed feeling to be honest. Because it’s only up to you and how you will use the great opportunity.Quite often you need to go outside your comfortable zone but that is fine. A few months after The Kennedys finiished I can reflect and see how much I learned and for that I am very grateful. I feel lucky to be part of THE KENNEDY’S family. At the end I only can say. Thank you.
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CHI
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DIGITAL / INTERACTIVE WEBSITE
CHI FREE OUR VOICES CHI stands for Child Helpline International. As you can probably assume, it’s an international network of child helplines. Which is an amazing thing. As they help children who have no one else to talk to. But like every business they had their own hurdles to jump over. And this year they found themselves being the ones calling for help. Toll-free helplines are only free to the caller. Every year millions of children’s calls go unanswered as helplines just didn’t have the support they needed. When not only is it a child’s right to be heard, it’s ususally their last resort. So with the work of the previous year’s Kennedys we carried on the altruistic torch and did something about it. Spearheaded by Kees, our ‘digital solutionist’, we worked with MPC London to create a gorgeous, interactive website. One that served as a petition that they’d take to governments and telecoms to ask for more support. But this wasn’t just any petition. Instead of your pen, you could sign it with your voice And the more people who donated their audio signatures, an interactive portrait of a child came to life. The site is still live,so if you were a child once,you should donate your voice if you haven’t already. Because your voice has the power to give a child back theirs.
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KENNEDY07
JOHN FILIPE It was hard for the body, It was like going back to school, It was like having sex with chaos, It was like a civil war, In the End it was great, We all overcame ourselves to make it happen, We all became better people, It was good for the soul.
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EA GAMES FIFA15
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FILM
EA GAMES FIFA 15 XMAS
Tis the season to be jolly. Yet when EA Sports got in touch with us to help them with their FIFA 15 Christmas film, we decided to take the jolly out of Christmas. And replace the word with others like, competition, domination, and annihilation. We then took the script the client had, Eden Hazard playing Lionel Messi on FIFA 15, and gave it the competitive-Christmas twist. Rewriting the words to ‘Deck the Halls’ as ‘Kick the Balls.’ Casting some competitive Christmas decorations to sing the carol for our players as they went head to head. Snowmen cupcakes may have small fists but that doesn’t stop them from fist bumping. And gingerbread men may have small mouths drawn on with candy. But that doesn’t stop them from chanting like a hooligan. It was also a great opportunity to send Carlo and John (directors) and Jake (writer) off to Barcelona to meet and shoot the legendary Lionel Messi. Who seemed locked in a vegetable torpor off the football field. And Eden Hazard in London, who was surprisingly human. The video was shared across many sports sites. Got over 8m views on Facebook and 3.5m on You Tube. And took cheesy Christmas ads to a whole new level. Christmas is no longer about opening presents. But cans of whip ass.
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KENNEDYS BOSS
JUDD CARAWAY This is me. I’m the meanest nice guy you’ll ever meet. Because when you join The Kennedys you’re about to embark into some madness. I’m going to push you into the deep end of the pool. I’m going to pull you in 20 different directions on the same day. I’m going to demand that through all the chaos we throw at you, you find clarity. And then I’m going to say make it faster. Make it better. Make me give a shit. And then I’m going to ask you to do it all again tomorrow.Oh,and by the end of The Kennedys, you’ll be a fucking baller. The catch is that The Kennedys is actually about love. Once you’re a Kennedy, you’re part of an amazing creative family and we’ll always be there to throw you a lifelife you when you need it.
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KENNEDYS BOSS
ALVARO SOTOMAYOR Hola, I’m El Capitån! I am the dude with the opportunity, the capo with the Scheme. I am the dude that gets you chicken in the middle of a war. I’m The founder and Creative Director of The Kennedys. I believe there is an opportunity for good in everything we do and in everyone around us. Like a battery with just a positive charge. Every person or project has the potential to change our world.To make us believe once more and leave behind something extraordinary and sometimes totally bonkers. The Kennedys are a proud gilded flying carpet ride, soaring above the grey minds, twisting and turning among an endless chain of ideas with legs (just like the big Lebowsky high bowling). I will help you find your north star,subtract the sand from the gold and the bananas from their peel.Trusting it all on a whim while believing you can fall forwards and land among friends.
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