Working via production studio F-Stop Istanbul, Nola Pictures’ Chris Hartwill directed a stunning :90 spot promoting Turkey’s largest city as a 2010 European Capital of Culture, an honor bestowed upon select cities each year by the European Union. The remarkable commercial packs the entirety of Istanbul’s art, architectural, religious, industrial, and social history and vibrancy into a thrilling sequence of just over a minute and a half.

The Most Inspiring City begins with a globetrotting, sailboat-bound couple staring in stunned awe as they approach the city’s soaring minarets in the hazy sea spray of dawn. The ensuing narrative weaves the couple’s explorations of Istanbul’s dynamic museums, religious monuments, shopping, and nightlife with soaring panoramas of the city’s towering skyscrapers, blazing superhighways, towering bridges, frenzied pedestrian plazas, beautiful green hills, and endless bodies of water. The result is a portrait of a bustling city of affluence and excitement, with centuries of life colliding to produce an unmatchable epicenter of world culture.

To capture the awesome scale of the city, Hartwill shot day and night, from a helicopter and on the ground, burning through 100 cans of 35MM film. “I wanted to portray Istanbul as a city of history and progress, friendship and adventure, great natural beauty and stunning human architecture,” Hartwill noted. “Conveying the spirit of such a rich cultural center in such a short film was challenging on many levels, but the pros at F-Stop came up with great creative solutions, and Cut and Run London did a phenomenal job cutting the heaps of footage.”

The campaign debuted Dec. 11 in Turkey and will run in several other countries in 2010 as part of a comprehensive worldwide print, TV and Internet campaign promoting the city’s yearlong cultural designation.

About Nola Pictures:
Founded in 2005, NYC-based Nola Pictures is a full-service, multi-disciplined media services company with affiliate offices in France, Canada and Chile. Nola features a diverse roster of multi-dimensional directors, designers and producers who have created award-winning content for ad agencies, film and TV studios, and corporate clients.

Nola offers turnkey production solutions from shoot through editorial and post; including animation, design and VFX. Nola’s mandate is to provide a supportive creative environment with production flexibility and efficiency for our artists and clients. The Nola team has contributed to projects for brands such as Dell, Pfizer, Budweiser, Givenchy, Phillip Morris, Kraft, Proctor & Gamble, Wyeth, Pro Health, McDonald’s, Sundance, Cadillac, Ford, Carolina Herrera, Samsung, Umbro, Nike, ESPN, QNB, Bank of America, UPS, and Jet Blue among others.

CREDITS
Client: Istanbul: European Capital of Culture 2010
Spots Title: The Most Inspiring City
Air Date: December 2009 in Turkey, Jan 2010 Abroad

Agency: RPM/Radar Istanbul
CD: Paul McMillen
Producer: Idris Ozgul

Prod Company: F-Stop Istanbul
Director: Chris Hartwill (represented by Nola Pictures in the U.S.)
EP (F-Stop Istanbul): John Spary
EP (Nola Pictures): Charlie Curran

Editorial: Cut and Run London
Editor: Piers Douglas

Telecine: Prime Focus London
Colorist: Douglas

Post/Effects: Prime Focus

Composer: Omer Ahunbay

Shoot Location: Istanbul, Turkey

RELATED LINKS
www.nolapictures.com