2019 Winners & Shortlists

THE BULLY

BrandCONNECT
Product/ServiceCONNECT BOUNDLESS
EntrantTBWA\RAAD Beirut, LEBANON
CategoryCorporate Social Responsibility
Idea Creation TBWA\RAAD Beirut, LEBANON
Production THE TALKIES Beirut, LEBANON

Write a short summary of what happens in the film.

Our film shows an atypical bullying scenario. A teenaged-boy verbally attacks an older, sickly patient who is hopelessly pushing his IV stand down a hospital corridor. The patient just stands there, sadly, “taking it”. Then, the teenager tells the older man that he would have punched him in the face if he were in front of him; the situation makes even less sense now, as the characters are standing face-to-face. The teenager yells: “I hope you drop dead Eagle697”, a chilling statement given the fact that the man is clearly very sick. But the “Eagle 967” is a subtle clue to what happens next. The older patient is shown in his hospital bed, staring sadly at the words of his attacker in a gaming chat box, as viewers still hear the words echoing down the hall. It’s revealed that the whole attack which felt very real happened online.

Cultural/Context information for the jury.

Online gaming has become a world by its own, where the avid players tend to forget that any person with a username is a human being. Anonymity of players and the use of avatars allow users to create alter-egos or fictional versions of themselves. But it also allows users to harass, bully, and sometimes gang up on other players, sending or posting negative or hurtful messages and using the game as a tool of harassment. Because players are anonymous their harassment can cause serious.

Credits

Name Company Role
Walid Kanaan TBWA\RAAD Chief Creative Officer
Krix Beberian TBWA\RAAD Regional Creative Director
Nour Christidi TBWA\RAAD Copywriter
Romy Abdelnour TBWA\RAAD Corporate Communications Director
Jay Nehmé The Talkies Regional Executive Producer
Tony Mhanna The Talkies Executive Producer
Hadi Syriani Hadi Syriani Director
Toufic Tabbal The Talkies DOP
Vanessa Mghames The Talkies Assistant Director
Heba Terek The Talkies Production Manager
Pauline Dagher Forest Studios Casting Director
Joe Neman Forest Studios Focus Puller
Abdo Semaan Forest Studios Gaffer
Ramzi Madi Forest Studios Sound Engineer
Wael Boutros Forest Studios Production Design
Youssef Boutros Forest Studios SFX
Richard Nakhle The Talkies Editor/Post-Producer
Mohamad Kebbe  Forest Studios Sound Design
Pixelmob Pixelmob Grading and Online
Links
Social Media URL