Hasta La Motion!

Walmart marked their sponsorship of the 89th Academy Awards with “The Receipt”, a set of three short films directed by Hollywood directors Antoine Fuqua, Marc Forster, and filmmaking partners Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg. The directors were challenged to each make a one-minute film based on the six items of a single Walmart receipt (bananas, paper towels, batteries, scooter, wrapping paper and video baby monitor). Walmart aimed to celebrate creativity and storytelling, and encouraged the directors to bring their different styles and individual voices to their stories. In “Lost & Found,” , directed by Marc Foster, several of these receipt items are lost and then found by different youngsters from different parts of the world who find value in them. Rogen and Goldberg’s piece, Bananas Town, starts in a classroom where a student launches into a Bananas tune, triggering an odyssey that takes us to such venues as a barber shop with scooters, a jazz club where the crooner sings about batteries, and a concert hall where ballerinas perform a tribute to paper towels. Fuqua’s short film, The Gift, shows a scooter-riding youngster who prepares and then wraps a gift for presentation to some unseen extraterrestrial beings. Their spacecraft beams up the gift from the lad while also briefly elevating him towards the sky.

The premise of each short film is around “how every receipt tells a story,” with the directors being challenged to illustrate their vision for one receipt containing bananas, paper towels, batteries, scooter, wrapping paper and a video baby monitor. The three creative films are part of Walmart’s larger multi-year partnership with the Academy Awards that is aimed at highlighting Walmart’s commitment to the art of storytelling. Walmart is also be making a $250,000 donation to The Academy Grants Program for FilmCraft.

Walmart Receipt Credits

The Walmart Receipt campaign was developed at Saatchi & Saatchi New York by chief creative officer Javier Campopiano, executive creative director Mike Pierantozzi and Wayne Best, creative director/copywriters Michael Craven and Alex Braxton, creative director/art director Scott Bassen and Brent Shriver, junior art director Derek Pee, junior copywriter Thanh Ly, head of design Blake Enting, social designer Spencer Larson, head of production John Doris, producers Danica Rosen and Zamile Vilakazi, digital producer Aliaksandra Shvedava, executive producer Emily Green, senior project manager Terea Staffer, project manager Natasha Graham, managing partner Beth Waxman-Arteta, senior account director Angela Brown, digital account director Kate Owens, account supervisor Marina Recalled, account executive Jessie Shapiro.

Lost and Found was shot by director Marc Forster via Tool of North America with director of photography Matthias Koenigwieser, executive producer Nancy Hacohen, and line producer Lisa Cowan. Editor was Matthew Chesse at Union Editorial with assistant editor Brad Besser, executive producer Michael Raimondi and post producer Noah Haeussner. Colourist was Sofie Borup at Company 3 with short form producer Clare Movshon. Visual effects were produced at Framestore by VFX supervisor Michael Ralla, executive producer Morgan Macuish. Sound was mixed at Union Editorial by Milos Zivkovic. Sound was designed at E2 Sound. Music was composed by Marc Streitenfeld.

The Gift was shot by director Antoine Fuqua via Wondros with executive producer Astrid Downs, producer Justin Diener and executive post producer Brian Drewes. Editors were John Refoua and William Pasley. Colourist was Stefan Sonnenfeld at Company 3. Visual effects were produced at Zero VFX by creative director Sean Devereaux, CG supervisor Mike Warner, executive producer Brian Drewes, VFX coordinator Stella Shalta. Post sound services were provided by Sony Pictures Studios by mix tech Martin Schloemer, supervising sound editors Mandell Winter and David Esparza, and ADR mixer Brian Smith. Music was created at GSA Music by composer Simon Franglen.

Bananas Town was shot by directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg via Caviar with executive producers Michael Sagol and Jasper Thomlinson, and producer Brian Etting. Editor was Isaac Hagy with assistant editor Bia Jurema, executive producer Correction De Saedeleer, post producer Terry Huynh. Colorist was Brandon Chavez at Company 3. Visual effects were produced at Visual Creatures by creative directors John Cranston and Ryan McNeely, VFX artist Arnold Aldridge, executive producer Tricia Chatterton-Goldrick. Sound was mixed at Margarita Mix by James Moore. Music was composed at Squeak E Clean by composer Justin Hori with executive producer Amy Crilly.