The start of 2022 saw Monster Energy brand Reign Total Body Fuel launch a campaign called ‘Ready To Reign’ which revolves around a trilogy of athlete ambassador fronted short films each focused on an emotional, inspirational and authentic story of overcoming barriers – either personal or professional – to achieve their goals.
The first spot to drop, on 25 January, featured The World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman who explains how ‘The Gym Saved His Life’ in a four-minute short running across brand and athlete social channels with the #ReadyToReign hashtag that captures Stoltman’s personal struggle with autism.
Created with production studio KODE and helmed by Director David Barr, the first episode in the series sees World’s Strongest Man Stoltman open up about some of his struggles growing up with autism: from being bullied in school and acting out, to being introduced to the gym by his brother Luke which kick-started his journey to become the strongest man in the world and also saved his life.
Shot in a single day on location in Invergordon (Scotland), the film sees Tom is joined by his older brother Luke to discuss the impact that autism has had on his life: beginning with the trouble he experienced as a child, his diagnosis and the sanctuary that the gym and working out has given him.
“With the autism, the gym saved my life… Everything’s quiet. Like, I’m floating in my own head” said Stoltman.
Kode Executive Producer Matt Fleming added: “To be able to go in-depth and spend time with these two incredible brothers was a joy. Unpicking the strongman exterior and delving into the more fragile, human aspects of Tom’s battle growing up with Autism was only possible through the brothers being so open and honest with us on camera. By letting their guard down and inviting us into their lives for a day, they’ve allowed us to tell a story that we hope resonates with and reverberates through the sporting industry and the Reign audience, inspiring those with seemingly unsurmountable obstacles in their way.”
“Tom’s autism means that he sees the world differently to most of us. Inspired by this, I wanted to create a stylised documentary that places the audience inside his head for a few minutes. Working with my long-term DOP Aadel Nodeh-Farahani, we created a visual language that combined portrait-style compositions, macro photography and ‘memory flashes’. Coupled with Mike Bovill’s sound design, this hopefully creates an immersive experience,” outlined KODE Director David Barr.
“I think you’d be hard pushed to find a family in the country that hasn’t been affected by mental health issues and voices like Tom’s help bring the conversation to new corners,” added Barr. “His openness that you can quite literally be the strongest man in the world, but still spend your life trying to overcome mental barriers is hugely inspiring, and will no doubt be a great comfort to many – especially those who live within the spectrum.”
The second film in the trilogy featured body building icon Kai Greene who speaks out about his challenging childhood: he was raised in an institutional facility after his mother was arrested and found that doing push ups while in isolation was a ‘quiet victory’ that at the time simply made him feel better and set him on a path to become one of the greatest bodybuilders of his generation.
The final episode, which was posted across the brand’s social platforms from 8 February, stars Cris Cyborg – the only MMA fighter in history to become Grand Slam Champion having held World Championships across four major MMA promotions: UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce and Invicta Fighting Championship. It outlines how her incredible success didn’t happen overnight, but required grit, determination and sacrifice and took her from sleeping in her car when she first arrived in America (unable to speak English) before she set out to prove herself in the gym and how MMA changed her life.
The campaign was briefed in by Monster Energy / Reign Total Body Fuel EMEA Communications Manager Jayde Kirby by a team at production house Kode which included Director David Barr, Executive Producer Matt Fleming, Producer Emily O’Meara, Production Manager Jamie Brewer, DOP Aadel Nodeh-Farahani, B-Cam / Drone Operator Milo Mulvagh, Stills Photographer Richard Wakefield, 1st AC Ben Curran, Gaffer Niall Smyth, Runner Helen Gray, Editors David Barr and Nick Ellis, with sound handled by Ross Maclean, sound m and design by Mike Bovill of 750mph and grade by George Kyriacou of Black Kite Studios.
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The trilogy has generated plenty of engagement, with the three films generating more than 2m views on the brand’s YouTube channel alone.
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