Brands play a new and important role in entertainment. In some cases, brands aim to tell a story about themselves or its products. This film, however, was supported by a brand – and allowed the filmmaker to tell Marjorie Eliot’s story with authenticity because it aligned with Crown Royal’s purpose of community and generosity. Their true support and collaboration, without a heavy-handed brand approach, keeps the film true to the story, true to the brand, and truly entertaining.

After multiple visits to Marjorie’s Jazz event, the Director built a relationship with Marjorie, enabling trust and an understanding that she would treat her story with the care and nuance it deserves. Once they saw Crown Royal’s commercial The Guy Who’s Got It All, they felt that it would be the ideal partner for the film. Two cold emails later, the treatment was reviewed and the partnership between began.

Diageo believes there’s incredible work to be made that doesn’t come from a brand brief and trusted the Director with the creative license to do what Directors do best: tell stories, bring experiences to life and weave in brand moments when relevant.

Diageo is always looking to connect with consumers, and partner with creatives in unique ways – like this project, which the brand trusted to generate a different kind of connection than traditional advertising.

The Director set out to capture the essence of Marjorie, and her incredible story of grief, hope, and generosity:

"There is a very spiritual and otherworldly feeling to Marjorie’s concert and the building she lives in, The Triple Nickel. Marjorie’s son’s passing and the spirit of the jazz legends who lived in the building during the 1940’s dictated the tone of the film. Cinematographer and I wanted to reflect this by telling the story from almost a third perspective, as an observer who is kind of haunting the building. We shot on 16mm to infuse a richness to the imagery and used natural lighting when depicting the modern-day scenes which became more elevated when we were stepping away from reality. I wanted to highlight how Marjorie has created light and hope out of the darkness she has experienced and show her as the heartbeat to her community."

In a fractured and short-attention media environment, Crown Royal went long. There was no way to edit Marjorie’s story into something ‘bite size,’ ‘snackable’ or ‘thumb stopping’, and knowing that this film was going to have a non-traditional route to consumer through festivals and events with captured attention, we knew we could take the time to pay homage to Marjorie and the healing power of music, community and generosity.

Shot on 16MM film and hovering between narrative and documentary, this 13-minute film provides a unique opportunity to not just grab attention but also connect deeply with consumers.

The green light to shoot came in August 2019 and was shot over three days in September 2020. The postproduction process created a 13-minute long film and a suite of assets – all completed by February 2020.

In February, the film premiered as a 'Vimeo Staff Pick' and was screened at SocialWork’s Black History Month Film Festival and Green Lit ATL. Because Marjorie’s story is timeless, it will be supported throughout 2020 and has already been accepted to two New York film festivals.

This project’s unique scale opportunity is time – both with the consumer at 13-minutes long and over a lifetime, because of its timeless expression of community, generosity and celebration told through a high quality, cinematic film.

The outcome is two-fold. First, Crown Royal is able to reach consumers with its generosity message in an authentic and unexpected way, by sharing Marjorie’s story through its first-ever and visually stunning documentary. Within 30 days of launch, the film has been accepted to two film festivals, which reinforces the validity of Jess’s vision, Marjorie’s story and consumer resonance. Equally important to Diageo is that this story heroes women in front of and behind the camera, aligning with their commitment to gender portrayal in front of and behind the camera.