Role: Director
"Back to School, Forward with Focus" features mindfulness educator Andres Gonzales. Andres works in Baltimore City Public Schools teaching kids practices that lead to the development of empathy, compassion, love, balance, and harmony.
The opportunity to direct this spot immediately struck a chord with me because I was never specifically taught how to focus my mind in the classroom...as a result, I quickly got branded with the "ADD" label. For a long time, I saw myself as 'less than', struggling in waves with various ADD medications and identity crisis' along the way. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to work with an ADD specialist in my 20's and was able to overcome a lot of the mental struggles that I faced throughout my life as a result of being labeled as an "ADD kid". One of the biggest cures for me to feel a natural sense of focus and presence has been meditation, so when I got wind of Andre's story and mission from Variable's EP Tyler Ginter, I was motivated to draw awareness towards it through Gap's global platform. To find out more about what Andres is up to, here is a link to his mission: hlfinc.org/about-us/
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Client: Gap Kids
Agency: Shebang Studio
Production Company: Variable
Director: Jonathan Bregel
Cinematographer: Katelin Arizmendi
Production Designer: Joe Sciacca
Executive Producer: Tyler Ginter
Head of Production: Alex Friedman
Producer: Paige Demarco
Line Producer: Amanda Scoblick
Pos Production
Editorial: Consulate
Editor: Ryan McCally
Color: Company3
Colorist: Jaime O'Bradovich
Sound Design/Mix: Sound Lounge
Sound Designer: Rob Sayers
Music House: Asche & Spencer
Score: Downtempo 135