Age UK, the UK’s largest charity dedicated to helping and supporting elderly people, has launched a new TV and online campaign to raise awareness of the loneliness that many of our elderly generation experience on a daily basis. The “When You Leave” film (below), created by Arthur London in collaboration with Royle Productions, also aims to encourage people to leave a monetary gift in their will to Age UK. Directed by Louise Osmond, the film depicts two elderly people as they struggle with the normal, everyday tasks that most of us take for granted. From going shopping, to crossing busy roads, the film (which marks Osmond’s directorial debut in the commercial world) carries a powerful and compassionate message as it encourages viewers to leave a legacy. An International Emmy Awards for Documentary winner, Osmond’s titles include Deep Water, Dark Horse, and Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach. Having forged a successful career in long-form documentary filmmaking over the last 16 years, Osmond has decided to expand her portfolio in the advertising and commercial world.
The success of this project required careful storyboarding and collaboration with Osmond’s editor up-front. Frances Royle, Founder of Royle Productions, said: “We are very proud to launch Louise’s advertising commercial career on the back of this project. We’ve been watching Louise over the past 18 months and looking for the right project for her. As we’re committed to supporting female directing talent within the industry, it’s great to be able to fulfil this ambition too. As Louise has historically directed projects of 60 minutes plus, part of our role was to ensure that all the planned shots would work within our time length of 40 seconds. Her enormous enthusiasm and clear vision were incredibly inspiring. It was wonderful to team up again with Arthur London, who always write such powerful and compassionate ideas and utterly rewarding to bring together such a passionate team, so generous with their time and commitment to the project.”
