My favorite narrative advertising projects of 2023

Hi Reader
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Have you seen Wes Anderson's new series of short films on Netflix? I'm not a big fan of his recent movies, but I found The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar fantastic!

The recent release of this series of short films has garnered a lot of attention for this format.

According to the Oscar rules, a short film is an original film with a maximum duration of 40 minutes, including end credits. The format has historically been used for experimentation, and its definition—starting from its duration—now seems more elusive than ever.

Short films are still as popular as they've always been, even though we might not refer to them by that name anymore. Some advertisements also use the language of short films. There are even short films by famous directors where artistic and commercial value are particularly challenging to distinguish (one of my favorites is Castello Cavalcanti that Anderson created for Prada).

The introduction of advertising on streaming platforms could lead to a reevaluation of storytelling and creative approaches in advertising. The audience is becoming increasingly fragmented and targeted; companies will need to tailor their ads and focus on entertainment and engaging narratives to capture the attention of an increasingly discerning audience.

Many of these are real stories, while others are tales that unfold within the time of a short scene and could be extracted from a film. Volvo continues its beautiful series of commercials with a truly emotional touch, and Apple dominates with consistently original, ironic, and impeccably written content.

One of the reasons for the renewed interest in shorter formats is the trend of movies lasting over two or even three hours, criticized in many cases. For example, Martin Scorsese's new film, Killers of the Flower Moon, has a duration of 3 hours and 26 minutes.

Often, a film's length is confused with its artistic quality, while brevity is sometimes seen as a sign of superficiality. But leaving the cinema, I often find myself thinking that the film I just watched could have been better with half an hour less.

In the future, we might witness increased commitment from streaming platforms to fund and promote short films. This is because they offer directors greater freedom to experiment, and the audience might be more tolerant of experimentation knowing that the film won't take up their entire afternoon.

​My experience in producing short films, music videos, and commercials has often led me to tell stories creatively. I am excited about the expansion of this cinematic format, which often receives little attention, and the growing number of voices, perspectives, stories, styles, and creative visions.

The coming year promises new stories to tell. I am writing new short films and speculative commercial projects that I would like to bring to life!

See you soon,

Marco

PS: With Christmas approaching, we'll all soon need a holiday from the holidays 🙂