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Project Literacy and Idris Elba team up with “The Little Chicken Named Pong-Pong”, a story by Wanda Steward, for International Literacy Day. Via the Huffington Post:

A mum who used to make up bedtime stories to go with the illustrations in her children’s books, because she was illiterate, has had one of her stories published, on International Literacy Day.

Wanda Steward, 47, from Philadelphia, US, didn’t want to miss out on the precious time she spent with her four children – who have now all grown up – before they went to sleep, so rather than admit defeat when faced with the text, she created stories to match pictures in the books.

Many of her stories would revolve around a made-up character ‘Pong-Pong the Brave’. She used this character to write a new tale based on the classic children’s book ‘Chicken Little’.

“Yeah, I had to make up stories,” she said. “It was the fact I just didn’t know how to read well.”

To celebrate International Literacy Day, one of Steward’s made-up stories – ‘The Little Chicken Named Pong-Pong’ – has been published and it has been read by Project Literacy ambassador, Idris Elba.

The charity commissioned illustrations to go with Steward’s narrative and helped bring ‘Pong Pong’ to life.

And now, after having lessons, Steward is no longer illiterate.

Art for Lawyers is a 9 minute collaborative documentary made by Rory Waudby-Tolley, who was invited to take up an art residency at the law firm Pinsent Masons. Via Short of the Week:

Invited to complete an arts residency at an international law firm in the City, Waudby-Tolley was puzzled over the direction he should take, so naturally he turned to short film and made the animated documentary Art for Lawyers, which focuses on having to make art for lawyers.

Recording a bunch of interview with employees of the law firm, Waudby-Tolley edited them down into what he describes as “something that vaguely makes sense” before animating them in a “fairly loose way” and of course, accompanying them with a fun theme tune by Tom Rosenthal. Aiming to “unlock the complex mysteries of human creativity and please his corporate client”, the London-based animator’s 9-min experimental film once again features the same warmth, humour and fun animation style that made Mr Madila so popular.

Why would a law firm be offering an art residency, you might ask? Pinsent Masons has hosted other artists before, as well as brought in exhibitions. The firm also has an art collection of its own. According to Legal 500:

Pinsent Masons LLP has ‘an understanding of the complexities of artwork and sensitivities in relation to cultural art in particular’. The practice, which focuses on commercial and transactional art matters for a broad array of clients, is headed by Richard Hart, who has ‘complete knowledge’ of the movement and control of art and cultural property. Fionnuala Rogers is ‘knowledgeable and passionate about this area’.

Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, Shape of Water, looks like a fantastic return to his Pan’s Labyrinth roots, and has been racking up circuit awards. It recently won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Via Vox:

The Shape of Water, set in Cold War-era Baltimore, is full of characters who are different and lonely.

Eliza, besides being an orphan, is mute — she can hear, but she communicates through sign language with Giles and Zelda (Octavia Spencer), her co-worker at the research facility where they clean labs. Life seems to have passed right by Giles, a commercial artist whose skills are being phased out by a photo-mad advertising economy, and he’s nursing a hopeless crush on the handsome owner of the pie shop nearby. Zelda, already viewed with disdain by the lab’s white employees because she’s black, is married to a man she loves but who seems to see her as an inconvenience. Zelda and Eliza’s boss is security supervisor Strickland (Michael Shannon), an imposing and prejudiced man who carries around a cattle prod and is desperate to please his superiors, which he hides behind a blowhard demeanor.

Strickland has traveled from the Amazon to the lab with a creature he calls “the Asset” (Doug Jones), an imposing water-dwelling creature that has gills like a fish but can stand like a man and has two breathing systems, though the above-water anatomy shuts down after too long without water.

The creature’s multiple breathing systems are being studied in the lab for their military applications by Dr. Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg), who is also a Soviet spy. Hoffstetler sees the Asset as a marvel. Strickland, a bigot, just calls it an “abomination.”

But Eliza has always been the outsider, and she is curious about the Asset. Over the course of many furtive visits to the lab by Eliza, they develop a connection. And when the lab’s and the military’s plans for the Asset become clear, she knows she can’t just sit by and watch. She has to take action.

Looking forward to the film!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbqOldR0kN0

Lyft and Jeff Bridges’ drawl takes everyone back to 1836 on the Oregon Trail, with these quirky, funny little video clip ads. Via The Drive:

“You always have a choice,” the new commercial for ride-hailing service Lyft ad begins. We see a scene of covered wagons on the Oregon Trail in 1836, long before Uber and Lyft were duking it out. Front and center on one of the wagons sits a familiar face: actor Jeff Bridges, who quickly launches into a soliloquy that wouldn’t seem all that odd coming from the mouth of The Dude.

“You can either choose to ride with the right people doing things for the right reasons, you’ll always end up in the right place,” says Bridges.

“Or, you could choose poorly and end up stranded,” the bearded actor continues. Then he mumbles something about buzzards drinking rain water out of your boot and expresses his for the city of Portland, for some reason. The ad concludes with the tagline, “It matters how you get there.”

This commercial seems like a pretty direct shot at Lyft rival Uber. Lyft is taking advantage of the many scandals happening over at Uber like the lawsuit with Alphabet over self-driving car tech, driver strikes all over the world, an FBI investigation, and the messy legal drama involving ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, just to name a few.

It’s a pretty good ad with a clear message, but the setting is a little confusing. It shows us folks who famously relied on themselves to get where they need to go and Lyft is a company that gives you a ride when you’re unwilling or unable to get to your destination yourself. We kind of have a feeling Jeff Bridges just likes playing a cowboy.

Jeff Bridges is awesome as a cowboy though. Anyone else a fan of True Grit? He was also great in Hell or High Water.

Ainoshima, Japan’s cat island, has cut a video inviting known cat lover Ed Sheeran to visit the island as part of its current PR drive. Via Refinery29:

Thank goodness Ed Sheeran still has an Instagram account, because he’s just been given the opportunity to take a once-in-a-lifetime (and totally Gram-worthy) trip to Japan’s cat island. Yes, you read that correctly: There is an entire island where furry felines roam free, lounging in the warm sun as they listen to the sound of waves breaking on the shore.

People found a beautifully shot video posted on YouTube called “Dear Mr. Ed Sheeran” (featured below) that pleads with the “Photograph” singer to make a quick pit stop to visit the kitties on the island of Ainoshima when he tours in Japan later this year.

After seeing this cat paradise, I honestly don’t know how Sheeran could turn down the offer.

Throughout the nearly five-minute video, text rolls across the screen to sell Sheeran on all of the adventure and belly rubs that await him as his hit “Shape of You” plays in the background. The invitation reads:

“Did you know that there is a cat Island in Japan? It’s called Ainoshima. It’s a tiny, tiny island and the size can’t even be compared to Ireland! The cats are care-free and full of life. At times they fight and yet have so much love for one another. They are enjoying life while being surrounded by the beautiful sea and mountains. We would love for you to visit our island. Over 100 cats are eagerly waiting for you! P.S. The cats love their afternoon naps! We recommend visiting the island during the mornings or evenings.”

ICYMI: Did you know? IKEA is already selling solar panels. It’s a great push to make solar energy more accessible to everyone. Via The Verge:

Ikea is now offering solar panels and home batteries to its customers in the UK. The Scandinavian furniture chain is partnering with solar firm Solarcentury for the venture, with prices for solar battery storage starting at £3,000 (about $3,970 USD).

The home batteries are designed to work with existing solar panels, or as part of a new combined home solar panel / battery storage system that Ikea is selling. Ikea says an average UK home with solar panels will typically consume around 40 percent of the solar electricity it generates. The remaining 60 percent of unused solar electricity is sold back to the National Grid, though at a loss compared to its value.

The batteries will allow users to store electricity generated by the sun from their solar panels, and use it when they want. Ikea says that by using storage, an average home can double its solar electricity usage to 80 percent, while electricity bills can be cut by up to 70 percent.

“We’re committed to helping homeowners reap the benefits of going solar and our business partnership with Ikea is a significant step forwards for the renewable energy industry,” said Susannah Wood, head of residential solar at Solarcentury in a statement. “The cost of solar installations has dropped considerably in recent years and is in fact 100 times cheaper than it was 35 years ago.”

This short film is a proof of concept for Apocalypse Now Now, an adaptation of the beloved South African novel of the same name. Via Short of the Week:

Whatever the analogues one arrives at, Apocalypse Now Now is a proof-of-concept of rare quality and pedigree. Based off a celebrated series by author Charlie Human, this short is a brief introduction to the world of Baxter Zevcenko (Garion Dowds). A snarky, monster-porn-dealing teen, Baxter might be a serial killer. His girlfriend, Esme, is missing, and he’s the prime suspect. To clear his name, he’ll turn to Cape Town’s grizzliest, drunkest bounty hunter, Jackson ‘Jackie’ Ronin (Louw Venter), a supernatural warrior who helps unlock a conspiracy across time and space.

The goal for the Apocalypse Now Now team is to build a groundswell of support for a feature version of the story, and, as is so often the case with these kind of teasers, the short is simplistic on a narrative level. It develops only a single representative scene of Human’s work, though the use of narration by Baxter early in the film does a large amount of expository heavy-lifting to set the context. If you dig these kind of speculative works however, you’ll find a ton to like about Apocalypse Now Now. With proven source material, the tone is gleefully vulgar, full of gore, drugs and foul language. Baxter as a character is instantly understandable, a jaded, wise-cracking teen, he is charmingly nonplussed as the ontological nature of his world falls down around him. Gorgeously shot, the film succeeds both on the practical and VFX levels, using extensive set design and its grimy South African setting to great effect.

We’ve read the book and loved it. Hopefully thered be a full length film soon!

KFC’s quirky new ad The Audition features WWE stars trying out for the biggest role of their lives: an attempt to be the next Colonel Sanders. Via Adweek:

The brand partnership between WWE and sponsor KFC was coordinated by media agency Spark Foundry, with KFC agency Wieden + Kennedy serving as creative consultants.

Spark Foundry vp Chinar Desai described the combination of prerecorded and live presentation as “a seamless, one-of-a-kind pop-culture moment with two iconic brands that fans love.”

Copywriter Shaine Edwards from W+K said the KFC integration is a great example of creating content that fits perfectly into an event like SummerSlam, where passionate fans don’t want to see ads that take them away from the WWE experience.

“We’ve found with a lot of effort that going out of our way to remain authentic earns us goodwill from the folks we’re talking to—also, it’s just not a good idea to upset an arena full of wrestling fans,” Edwards said. “People have to know that we love the things they love just as much as they do, otherwise we’re just co-opting their interests. In WWE, they’d call that Cheap Heat. The Colonel wouldn’t like cheap heat.”

Strangely enough, this isn’t actually the first KFC-WWE crossover. You can check out the previous one here.

2036: Nexus Dawn is a prequel for the next Bladerunner film, setting the scene for Ridley Scott’s return to one of his most beloved franchises. Via the Verge:

We’re still a few months away from the October 6th release of Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. Until then, though, fans will be able to tide themselves over with a series of three short films looking to fill in the 30-year gap between the original Blade Runner — set in 2019 — and the sequel.

The first is 2036: Nexus Dawn, posted over at Collider, which takes place 13 years before Villeneuve’s film kicks off. In the world of Blade Runner, the government instituted a prohibition on new replicant production in the year 2023 following an EMP attack that was blamed on replicants. The new short picks up Niander Wallace — presumed to be the villain of Blade Runner 2049, largely based on the fact that he’s played by Jared Leto and looks incredibly evil — petitioning to have that prohibition overturned so that he can create new replicants of his own.

As seen in the short, Wallace has created a new model of replicant, the Nexus 9, which he claims is superior to those built by Eldon Tyrell. It’s a good introduction to the bold arrogance of Wallace’s character, but it also serves to fill in a crucial question left after the original film: basically, where are all the new replicants in the sequel coming from?

Fittingly, 2036: Nexus Dawn was directed by Luke Scott, the son of original Blade Runner director Ridley Scott.

This Generic Millennial Ad by Canadian stock footage company Dissolve is a hilarious sequel to their Generic Branded Ad. Tag yourself? Via CNET:

You’re a big company. You want those sweet, sweet millennial dollars. So how do you appeal to this finicky age group of young consumers? With ukuleles, beards, selfies and slang, of course.

Stock footage company Dissolve and creative group And/Or Studio are taking tone-deaf advertisers to task with a very funny commercial parody called “This Is a Generic Millennial Ad.”

The ad, published on Tuesday, is made up entirely of Dissolve clips and features millennials snapping food photos, taking selfies, dancing in the middle of the street and hanging out with an “eclectic group of friends.”

The video is littered with emoji, hashtags, smartphones, internet-speak, fireworks and an increasingly desperate narrator who is trying to appeal to millennials.

Jon Parker, brand director at Dissolve, tells CNET this ad is “definitely a cautionary tale” and a call for marketers to beware of generalizations and cliches when advertising to millennials. It’s also totes entertaining.