Reach Out

Reach Out is an interesting new PSA campaign by the Ad Council through DDB New York that attempts to raise awareness of teen suicide prevention with short films based on the stories of teens themselves. These four spots also showcase the work of several directors working in very distinct styles of film-making and animation. Who-Fu and Mirrorshade working with Guru Studios, both use their own takes on stylized animation; while Santamaria and Pandapanther explore live-action in new methods that aren’t typical of their commercial work. It’s great for us to see the wide range of expression in this campaign as well as compare the various approaches to the material by the different teams. Nice work, all!

Update: So we just got sent all 11 films in this campaign, and the rest are just as worthy of a look: including great cel animation from Steve May, marionettes from Boolab, graphic illustrations from Lesley Barnes and more from Adam Pierce, Jo Lawrence and Cal Brunker. Great to see all these different styles of work, done for a great cause as well.

Take a look at all 11 films here.