Aardman director produces campaign film for MS Week
Howard Lake | 24 May 2011 | News
Aardman director Darren Robbie, a lead animator on the film ‘Chicken Run’, has produced a short animated film for the MS Society’s main campaigning week which powerfully depicts the reality of living with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The charity hopes that the 35 second film, launched during MS Week (23-29 May), will enjoy a viral effect and help raise awareness and funds.
The film encourages people to visit the MS Society’s website mapms.org.uk where visitors can record their own films and join the new research tool MS Register.
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Robbie, who has directed almost 50 commercials for a wide variety of companies, made the film for free for the MS Society in memory of his sister who died as a result of complications relating to MS a couple of years ago. Such a film would normally cost tens of thousands of pounds to produce.
The film uses a busy workplace as a metaphor for the human brain to educate people about how the condition affects human motor function. Instead of workers we see different body parts losing their jobs and being fired, to represent the way body functions can unexpectedly be lost or impaired when someone has MS.
[Video at https://youtube.com/watch?v=CYjFfbbU2DU no longer available]
Darren Robbie said of his film:
“I really wanted to do something to help the MS Society and this was the best way for me to highlight how debilitating this disease can be; hopefully the film will be useful for many years to come”.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.