Today (September 10) marks the official premiere of this year’s Thinking of You Week film, a wonderfully crafted piece of cinematography which lifts the spirits and spreads the joy of sending greeting cards.
Perfectly timed to make the most of the run up to Thinking of You Week (which this year falls September 20-26), the GCA-initiated film which was written and produced by Lanther Black’s talented duo Jack Parker and Dominique Miranda, superbly relays in peppy verse and imagery, the important role greeting cards play in connecting people and showing you care for them.
The film is now hosted on the GCA’s YouTube channel. To watch it, click below:
Commenting on the film, Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA told PG Buzz: “A huge thanks to Dominique and Jack for encapsulating in three short verses of choice words and some great visuals, the strong connections greeting cards forge between those in our lives, friends, family, colleagues and others, both near and far.”
Having previously created a couple of ‘blockbusters’ for the GCA (including last year’s lockdown triumph starring 30 cardies), and being card publishers themselves, Dominique and Jack were able to combine their film making talents with their industry knowledge to come up with the fun visual and aural message for this year’s ToYW.
“After a meeting with Amanda and several GCA Council members, we all loved the idea of a ‘send it forward’ message to repay the happy feeling of receiving a greeting card to someone new,” explained Dominique, which sparked the idea for the great rhyming couplet ‘If we all send a greeting card to a friend, we could start a trend that’ll never end,’ that appears in the film.
As for the pace and feel of the film, Jack added: “We wanted to make something snappy and upbeat, with a lot of movement, similar to the style of ‘Choose Life’ from Trainspotting or Edgar Wright’s ‘Hot Fuzz’. We started by writing the poem and then storyboarded as many shots as we could think of to help us achieve that ‘quick cut’ style.”
The film, which took about a week to shoot, saw Dominique and Jack enlist the talents of some friends, including a real-life criminal barrister!
“The biggest challenges were keeping the pace and energy going without overwhelming the viewer and also writing out hundreds of addresses on the envelopes in different pens and handwriting styles (even though you can barely see them in the finished film!!). Finding enough pens to fill the drawer was less of a challenge because you’re unlikely to find a greeting card publisher that doesn’t have a healthy addiction to stationery!” revealed Dominique.
Here is the poem in full…
Pick a greeting card, grab a pen,
Write a message inside and then
Choose the person you’re thinking of most.
Pop that greeting card in the post.
If a greeting card comes to you,
Send one forward to someone new,
A friend, a colleague, your Uncle Frank
Just to say hi or to send a big thanks!
If we all send a greeting card to a friend
We could start a trend that’ll never end
Around the world, across the miles
We’ll be sending cards and delivering smiles.
The GCA is encouraging everyone in the card trade to share the film though their social media channels in the run up to Thinking of You Week.
“It is great that so many retailers and publishers have already firmed up on their plans for the Week – more than ever before – but there is still time for everyone to get involved,” urges Amanda. “The dedicated blog is full of inspiring ideas as well as links to the free downloadable toolkit of assets on the website. Let’s make this year’s Thinking of You Week the best ever!”
As announced on PG Buzz Asda, B&M, Cardzone, Clintons, Sainsbury’s and House of Cards are among the retailers to have already pledged their support for this year’s Thinking of You Week.
Top: The GCA motto of ‘send a card, deliver a smile’ features on the film.
