The pleasure and pain of being a creative in advertising is brought into perspective in a comedic but pointed video by a group of adland players concerned about rampant ageism.
The Last March Of An Ad Creative exposes the "ugly truth" about ageism and what a creative career in the industry is actually like.
Kiran Koshy of broadcasting and media production company Raucous Content in California directed the film in collaboration with the Federation Against Ageism Towards Advertising Creatives (FAAAC).
The mission of FAAAC: To speak the truth about the rampant ageism towards creative people in advertising, build awareness about the problem-- especially amongst those considering it as a career -- and work on solutions to remedy it.
“As a former agency creative, I’m very aware of this issue, and it’s something I care about deeply as most of my friends are still agency creatives,” says Koshy.
“I really gravitated towards the idea the FAAAC team had about creating the most honest recruitment ad for the ad industry ever, to expose the guts of the problem.
"We worked on making sure the script didn’t rely on hyperbole as the truth was shocking enough and just needed to be told well.
"Every line is rooted in the truth, and it’s a dark piece because the truth is dark, and we should all be outraged. However, we did balance it with deliberate humor to make for a more engaging piece.”
Koshy says he has seen a lot of my incredibly talented friends be discarded by the industry in their prime.
"And I’ve seen how it’s affected their mental well-being and family life,” he says.
“Almost everyone in their 40s questions if they made the right choice in getting into the business and the industry has quite consciously promoted the myth that younger people are more creative because it lets them lower salaries and squeeze margins.”
Credits:
Title: “The Last March Of An Ad Creative”
Organization: Federation Against Ageism towards Advertising Creatives (FAAAC)
CDs - FAAAC Creative Team
Writers - Jason N Farmanov, Kiran Koshy
Director - Kiran Koshy
Production Co. - Raucous Content
EP - Steve Wi
Producer - Adam Kaiser
Associate Producer - Gleason Barber
DP - Joshua Hess
1st AC - Dan Jackson
DIT - Dave Louria
Gaffer - John Beasley
Art Director - Jett Black
Hair/MU - Hannah Handshy
Wardrobe - Oksana Kaiser
Sound - Jeremiah Gray
Post Consultant - Charles Gerstner
Talent 1 - Devin Bonnée
Talent 2 - Kenneth Bingham
Talent 3 - Lee Hackett
PAs - Ty Bever, Tyler Holloway, Chiara Odgers, Kassandra Whitehurst
Editorial & Post - Charlie Uniform Tango, Dallas
Edit - Adam Henderson -
Music - Chopin’s Funeral March
Sound Design/Mix - Russell Smith
Flame Artist - Catherine Thomas
Assistant Editor - Alyssa Udovitsch
Color: Nice Shoes, New York
Colorist: Sal Malfitano
Producer: Isabel Gomez-Boone
Color Assist - Tim Tomlinson
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