Duotone Rides 'Back to the Start' to Epic Year
Its award-winning music supervision for Chipotle is just one of a number of projects that spans commercials, branded content and entertainment.
Duotone Rides "Back to the Start" to Epic Year
Its award-winning music supervision for Chipotle is just one of a number
of projects that span commercials, branded content and entertainment.
One of the most celebrated spots of 2012, Chipotle's "Back to the Start," took home five honors at the 2012 Cannes Lions Festival, including the Film Lion Grand Prix and a Gold Lion in the Film Craft category for animation. Created via CAA and directed by Johnny Kelly of Nexus Productions in London, the ad uses stop-motion to tell the story of a misguided farmer who slowly turns his family farm into an industrial animal factory before seeing the error of his ways and opting for a more sustainable future.
The track for the spot, which features country icon Willie Nelson covering Coldplay's "The Scientist," was conceived and music supervised by New York-based music and sound shop duotone. In addition to the Grand Prix and Gold Lion, it was also honored with a Silver Lion for Best Use of Music in Film Craft.
Additionally, "Back to the Start" took home a Cyber Lion in the Viral category, and topped off its big night at the Palais du Festival with the Branded Content & Entertainment Grand Prix for the entire Chipotle "Cultivate" campaign.
The Cannes Lions culminated an impressive winning streak for "Back to the Start," which has collected five AICP honors (including Musical Arrangement and Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial), Best of Show honors at the One Show Entertainment Awards, three ANDY Awards (including a Gold for Music), six awards from the distinguished Art Directors Club and three Clio Awards (including one for Adapted Music). Coldplay itself commended the spot as a "great cover, great short film."
The project began when CAA partnered with Chipotle to create a short film based on the brand's motto, "Food With Integrity." Chipotle has long shunned traditional advertising techniques in favor of unexpected, often guerrilla methods, and had even launched a 2010 campaign poking fun at ad agencies.
At the same time, much of their publicity has focused on issues of social responsibility, like giving away free burritos to those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, sponsoring screenings of the documentary "Food, Inc." and partnering with Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution for a fundraiser called "Boorito 2010: The Horrors of Processed Food."
For Chipotle, the brand and agency tapped Nexus' Kelly, a gifted animator and director, to create a stop-motion animation that tells the story of a misguided farmer who slowly turns his family farm into an industrial animal factory before seeing the error of his ways and opting for a more sustainable future.
With the music track so integral to the spot's success, CAA turned to duotone for the musical accompaniment. The agency has worked with the studio in the past, specifically on a short documentary film for Mitchum, the antiperspirant brand, that profiled exceptionally hard-working people. The short was directed by Albert Maysles and Casey Neistat of Maysles Films.
After a lengthy search, duotone came up with a tailored edit of Coldplay's "The Scientist" for the Chipotle project that not only matched the ethos and mood of the film but also scored to picture naturally and powerfully, eliciting a strongly emotional viewing experience. Sync licensing was handled by duotone Executive Producer David Leinheardt.
"Once you come up with the perfect idea for the track, your worries really begin," Leinheardt laughs. "Licensing on its best days is a challenge when it comes to well-known songs. We're incredibly proud of the fact that we were able to get this done, and that it's been received with so much enthusiasm."
Indeed, after the spot ran on this year's Grammy Awards, James Poniewozik, Time Magazine's TV critic, noted that "the most enjoyable music thing I saw last night was not a live performance at all. It was a Chipotle ad." He went on to call the ad "better and more mesmerizing than any of the highly-publicized ad extravaganzas from last week's Super Bowl." Poniewozik concluded that he's not sure he's ever seen "a short film by any advocacy group that was as well-made, well-argued or emotionally on point."
"Back to the Start" has pulled off another hat trick in that it now holds the honor of being among the best spots of 2012 -- and 2011. In August, 2011, the short was introduced on the web and began airing in 5,700 movie theaters across the country. It has since accumulated millions of views on YouTube, and aired in its entirety during the 2012 Grammys. The full-length track is available on iTunes, with proceeds going to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which is dedicated to creating a sustainable, healthful and equitable food future.
This music supervision project features a diverse crew of co-conspirators: a country music legend, world-renowned agency CAA, an award-winning Irish animator, an ethically-focused restaurant chain and the biggest band to come out of the last decade.
Nelson was an ideal choice to perform the song: his co-founding of Farm Aid, which assists and increases awareness of family farms, made him a natural fit; and his long track record of activism and socially responsible projects also includes forming the Willie Nelson Biodiesel company, campaigning for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, and fighting for better living conditions for dairy animals. Combine all that with his legendary talent and his penchant for genre-bending, and all the elements were in place for a moving, unique take on a modern classic.
Beyond being a go-to shop for music supervision, duotone is a musical dream tank where Partners/Composers Jack Livesey and Peter Nashel, along with Leinheardt, work on commercials, TV, docs and movies that they feel are more than just high profile. Rather, they believe that, when laid out side by side, the work forms a pastiche of this country's state of mind.
For example, the studio's imprint touches the economy and politics (via its work on the docs "Freakonomics" and "Client 9"), the sharp edges of pop culture/entertainment (it scored the opening for Kevin Smith's AMC hit "Comic Book Men") and the issue of the role of television in this country as a whole (thanks to its work on the PBS doc "America in Primetime"). "We want to move the needle on every conceivable front," says Leinheardt, "whether it's in commercials, TV or film, from original music to the reimagining of well-known songs."
By all accounts, for duotone - and for the industry in general - this has been a great year for imagination. Among the company's recent spot work are Captain Morgan "Liar's Banquet" and Sauza's "Make it with a Fireman," the latter having racked up nearly five million YouTube views. Meanwhile, on the TV front, "Comic Book Men" has been renewed for a second season. "We try not to have a specific plan," Leinheardt concludes. "We want to be challenged, and we want to have an impact. That vision leads us to the right projects."
As for the impact of the "Back to the Start" project, the partners are emphatic. "Chipotle has been a turning point for us," says Nashel. "While we had mainly focused on original music for TV and film in the past - and even though we successfully music supervised projects - this pairing of song with artist was a breakthrough. We now count it among our core strengths, especially when it comes to re-working an original song and creating a new and unique master. That's particularly appealing to us."
Published 24 July, 2012
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