New VCCP Creative Team Talk Macmillan

A newly-hired, young creative team at VCCP London - Lucy Aston [below, right] and Josefine Lindmark [below left] - has worked on the latest Macmillan spot, called Thank You. The spot, directed by Another Film Company's Steve Reeves, explores the amount of people involved in helping someone confront and deal with a cancer diagnosis.

It's the pair's first TV project and below they discuss how they approched the brief, what they're looking forward to working on in the future and how Barry White enters the equation.

Tell us a bit about this spot – it’s your first TV project isn’t it?

It is, and what a great charity to open with! We really wanted this ad to show just how many people are affected by a cancer diagnosis, and how absolutely everybody can do something to make a difference, whether you’re a friend, neighbour or a complete stranger.

What have you worked on before this?

Before Macmillan, we made some outdoor for Cadbury, online content for O2 and launched the YouTube channel for Microsoft. But we’re already eager to get our hands on another TV brief.

How did you come to be working on the brief and what was it that the client wanted

We were put on the brief alongside the team who created last year’s spot, and learned a lot from them. The clients wanted a continuation of the story and to give more of an insight into how Macmillan support in lots of ways.

‘No One Should Face Cancer Alone’ is a very rich territory, but at the same time you have to tread carefully, everybody has a strong opinion on such a sensitive subject.

Did you immediately know how you wanted to approach this campaign?

I think the saying ‘the next idea will always be better’ was very appropriate here. We were really determined to get the best idea possible, pulling those all nighters was definitely worthwhile.

Once we had the initial script nailed down, it was apparent how powerful somebody living with cancer saying ‘thank you’ could be.

The voice over is a very important part of the spot; how did you find the right artist and did you know immediately when it sounded right?

It was important for us that the lady sounded immediately likeable, approachable, and able to pack a punch without being overdramatic.

We felt it would be strange to have a celebrity voice when seeing a different lady on screen. Every voice we heard after Lu Corfield just didn’t sound as good.

What did Steve Reeves bring to the project?

We couldn’t have asked for a better director. We wanted to reveal the characters in the most natural way possible, being ‘addy’ and ‘tricksy’ wouldn’t have felt right for such an honest and sensitive spot.

Steve just got it straight away. He made it look surreal but viable. Steve made the whole thing flow easily and kept us by his side for every shot, we were really involved. He’s brilliant at capturing the best of people in their performances, creating lovely portraits. We look forward to doing another project with him.

What was the hardest part of the process?

The hardest part of the process was doing research. We spent a while reading real people’s heart-wrenching stories on the Macmillan online community. We would sit at our desk weeping for hours. It’s really heavy stuff.

Because so many people are affected by cancer, the ‘Thank You’s’ in this spot may not be true to some people, but really hit home with others. Hopefully it inspires people to take a lasagne round to their neighbour, or put 80p in the bucket.

How long have the two of you been working together and how and where did you team up?

We’ve been working together since meeting in the last year of uni. We graduated, and after eighteen months of placements and short-term contracts we’re now a fully hired creative team at VCCP. We’re very close which helps, there’re not many jobs where you get to spend all day chatting with your mate while listening to Barry White.

Now you're working at VCCP full time, what are you most excited about for the coming weeks and months?

We’re really excited to see how much money the Macmillan campaign will help raise; it’s quite a lot of pressure after last year’s success. Some of the comments from people affected by cancer have been really humbling.

This has been such a great opportunity to work closely with some very talented people like Steve Reeves, our CD Marcus Woolcott, and [VCCP ECD] Darren Bailes. So we’re keen to get some more TV ads under our belt, work on some different brands and keep learning.