The Briefing Room

Glenn Close stars with her sister, daughter, nephew and niece in BringChange2Mind, a PSA to combat the stigma associated with mental illness

The newly released :30/:60 PSA, “Say,� for BringChange2Mind featuring Glenn Close and her family, isn’t your typical PSA. Out of New York-based agency the watsons, its tone is one of hope, its scale is large—beautifully shot in Grand Central Station to John Mayer’s “Say�, with a creative team including Oscar® winning director Ron Howard with @radical producing, and Whitehouse editor Matthew Wood. Ms. Close founded the organization with a mission to eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness by putting a face on the problem. 1 in 6 Americans suffer from mental illness and many do so in secret. Much like going public with such afflictions, getting the PSA off the ground was uniquely challenging.

First, shooting in New York’s Grand Central Station was a lofty proposition. The watsons producer Lorraine Kraus, in conjunction with @radical’s producers, met resistance from the NYC Metro System in the form of major filming restrictions. To potentially impede the transportation hub even for a few hours would, it seemed, not be tenable. But the watsons creative director Maggie Monteith insisted. Says Monteith, “We had to show en mass what 1 in 6 really looks like. 1 in 6 is your brother, your sister, your friend, who you commute with; part of your daily routine. Grand Central is the ultimate symbol of routine, human interaction.�
Enter Ron Howard. Glenn Close had worked with Howard, and admired his portrayal of mental illness in “A Beautiful Mind.� The director met with the head of Metro at Grand Central, then scouted the site personally while listening to the donated track “Say� on his iPod. With his active participation, the production not only secured permission to film there, but to shoot multiple locations and elements for 14 hours straight; the elements being the PSA itself, behind-the-scenes footage and still photography for the campaign.

With the location secured, Howard, Close and team met with all of the participants and their families—including Close’s bipolar sister and schizophrenic nephew. The director wanted to commend them on their courage, see who would be the most comfortable in front of a camera and also collectively put the group at ease. He and Close did this by swapping Hollywood war stories and engaging everyone, which proved very effective. Says agency producer Kraus, “I’ve never seen people more proud to be involved. These individuals and their loved ones have held these problems so close for so long and to be treated like superstars by literal superstars was special.�

The day of the shoot, the production team efficiently executed a full day of highly choreographed lock-offs and in some cases integrated the crowd. Everything went off without a hitch.

“The core message is so useful,� notes director Howard. “A lot of people will find that it’s a relief to simply acknowledge that mental health issues are something that every family deals with. Yet it clearly remains stigmatized.� Concludes Monteith, “To have these people step forward is truly inspiring. Living with mental illness is difficult enough without societal judgments.�

Whitehouse editor Matthew Wood comments on the post phase, “We wanted to build up the idea that this was a normal morning commute in Grand Central Station and then expose the white shirts as contrast to this,� adding “It’s very gratifying to work with such an extraordinary talent as Ron Howard in highlighting a relatively unknown statistic about mental illness.�

Executed by Kieran Walsh, creative director at Carbon VFX, NY, the closing transition seamlessly integrates those with mental illnesses. The visual effects sequence involved on-set supervision with Howard. Due to strong volunteer turnout, they were able to avoid numerous plate shots using groups of people to duplicate the crowd. To achieve the subtle effects, Walsh and the team at Carbon did extensive rotoscoping in Flame, Smoke and Silhouette to isolate each individual.

This PSA and its players have a uniquely informative and inspirational story to tell. Don’t forget to check out the behind-the-scenes interviews at www.bringchange2mind.org.

About BringChange2Mind.org

BringChange2Mind.org is a not-for-profit organization created by Glenn Close, the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF), Fountain House, and Garen and Shari Staglin of IMHRO (International Mental Health Research Organization).
The idea of a national anti-stigma campaign was born of a partnership between Glenn Close and Fountain House, where Glenn volunteered out of an interest in mental illness due to the illnesses of her sister and nephew.
BringChange2Mind’s mission is twofold:
– provide people with misconceptions about mental illness quick and easy access to information that combats stigma
– provide people with mental illness, and those who know them, quick and easy access to information and support

About the watsons

the watsons (itsthewatsons.com), founded in July 2003, is a New York-based creative boutique whose expertise is creating lasting relationships between great brands and the audiences they benefit. Founded by four “corner-office� ad execs, the watsons is a small, agile agency that, in just six short years, has experienced triple-digit growth and received more than a dozen major industry awards, including a 2006 Emmy nomination. the watsons also have an office in Chicago.

About the Whitehouse

The Whitehouse is a film editing company. 

It opened in 1990, in a little white house in Soho, London. The company had three editors, some rented equipment and a sofa bed from Ikea that wouldn’t fold out. They worked hard, won some awards and had a laugh. Life was good. Life was simple. Then some smarty pants invented a computer to edit film on. They bought one, because everyone else had one and they didn’t want to be left out.
Nineteen years later, the Whitehouse has provided the editing on Oscar winning movies, award-winning commercials, Emmy-winning TV shows, documentaries and music videos.
The Whitehouse now has offices in London, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Many people have come and gone over the years. Some have come, gone and come again. But one thing has remained constant.
The Whitehouse cuts film.

About Carbon VFX

Carbon is an essential element in all living things. The New York design and VFX studio of the same name holds creativity as essential – a key building block for every project. Recently launched by award-winning Creative Director Kieran Walsh and Executive Producer Frank Devlin in partnership with the Whitehouse, Carbon is an integrated creative arm specializing in motion graphics, design and visual effects, bringing the partners’ 20+ years at the top tier of the industry to every visual challenge.

Credits:
Client: BringChange2Mind.org
Title: “Say� :30/:60
Airdate: October 21, 2009
Agency: the watsons, NY
CD: Maggie Monteith, Paul Orefice
Account Director: Eric Sutcliffe
Agency Senior Producer: Lorraine Kraus
Production Company: @radical Media, NY, NY
Director: Ron Howard
DP: Sal Totino
Executive Producer: Frank Scherma
Editorial Company: the Whitehouse, Bicoastal/Chicago/London
Editor: Matthew Wood
Assistant Editor: John Luisi
Editorial Producer: Melanie Klein
VFX: Carbon VFX, NY
Designer: Kieran Walsh
VFX Executive Producer: Frank Devlin
Music: John Mayer, “Say�