The stop-motion and narrative talents of Nexus director Johnny Kelly are on full display in this rousing spot announcing the rebrand of the Humane Society as Humane World for Animals.

Powered by a spare and heartfelt cover of Peter Gabriel’s 1977 classic “Solsbury Hill” by Australian singer/songwriter Sia, the spot was produced thru Nashville entertainment marketing agency FlyteVu.

Johnny Kelly: “The rebrand reflects a major company restructuring for Humane Society with a huge network of sub-organizations coming together. When developing the story, my plan was to mirror this assembly in a simple way — so we see five different animals come together onscreen to form the logo.
 

“I wanted to make something that touched on the tragic circumstances a lot of these animals find themselves in, but without being overly manipulative or mawkish.”

 
“My job with a brief like this is to gather as much complexity and nuance around these animal’s stories then make it into something that is engaging to watch. I wanted to make something that touched on the tragic circumstances a lot of these animals find themselves in, but without being overly manipulative or mawkish.

“From the start, FlyteVu had selected ‘Solsbury Hill’ for the film’s soundtrack. I soon realized the driving percussion could be an anchor for the edit, allowing us to tell many animal’s stories concurrently. Their journeys combine in a collective moment of freedom and release in the final sequence.

“This film could have been told in live action — and we talked about this approach at one point — using a mix of filmed bits and library footage. Animation though, allows you to transcend a lot of the specifics and tell a more high-level iconic story. Creating characters and sets from scratch also allows you to simplify and streamline the story in a more focused controllable way.”

Watch the behind-the-scenes video:
 
 

 
 

 
Client: Humane World for Animals

Agency: FlyteVu
Consulting Chief Creative Officer: Linda Knight
Creative Director: Lane Latimer
Partner: Laura Hutfless, Jeremy Holley
General Manager: Sina Seger
Director of Content Production: Kaetlin Fehl
Production Coordinator: Mary Spaulding

Production: Nexus Studios
Director: Johnny Kelly
EP: Julia Parfitt, Ryan Goodwin-Smith
Senior Producer: Isobel Conroy
Production Manager: Ruyi Meer
VFX Supervisor & Lead Compositor: Gareth Tredrea
CG Supervisor: Mark Davies
Art Director: Melanie Climent
Character Designer: Michael Kirkham
2D Animator: Marylou Mao
Matte Painter: Melanie Climent
Compositors: Hugo Vieites Caamaño, Chiara Feriani, Alex Gaudiano, Valérie Guichard
Editor: Andrea Zantiras
Head of Studio: Gérman Diez
Head of Production: Rachel Moss
Creative Development: Delfina Maria
Creative Manager: Jade Duncan Knight
Image Researcher: Alyaa Ridha
Production Runner: Gianluca Scatto
Pipeline: Tom Melson, Michael Bond
IT: Jeremy Parnell, Vinny Donadio
PR & Marketing: Nancy Edmondson, Bruce Bigg, Alyaa Ridha
Clean Up: Team VFX Artist
Director of Photography: Toby Howell
1st AC: Mark Swaffield
Gaffer: Aldo Camilleri
Sparks: Rob Collins, Dominik Palgan
Moco Op: Max Halstead
Animators: Tobias Fouracre, Mark Waring
Animation Rigger: Robin Jackson
Model Making: Sculpt-Double
Lead Model Maker: Nathan Flynn
Model Makers: Kat Probert, Rachel Brown, Joshua Flynn
Art Director: Gordon Allen
Assistant Art Directors / Puppet Maintenance: Jasmine Nixon, Rosie Tonkin, Sarah Crombie
Stop Motion Studio: Clapham Road Studios
Studio Manager: Daisy Garside
Studio Assistants: Laura Puig, Ben Côté
Software Engineer: Jonathan Hearn
Medic: Helen Turner
LED Screens: Hire Intelligence
Courier: Don Garland
Intern: Billy Fouracre

Grade: Halo Post
Colorist: Duncan Russell
Grade Assistant: Caoimhe McCarthy
Post Producer: Will Garbutt

Song: Peter Gabriel “Solsbury Hill”
Artist: Sia
Producer: Greg Kurstin

Audio: Lime Studios
Sound Design/Mix: Tom Paolantonio
Producer: Cassie Underwood

BTS Filming: Juliette Dalton at 2Dice
BTS Titles: Erwin van den IJssel