Russell Athletic "Declaration" (2012) :30 (USA)

Treehouse editor John McStravick helped capture the spirit of team sport in editing a new campaign for sporting apparel innovator Russell Athletic®. Conceived by Dallas agency The Richards Group, the campaign includes broadcast and online ads and features high school football players discussing values that bind their teams and lead them to excel.

Each of the ads weaves scenes of football games and practices with close-ups of young players describing what motivates them. “While we are all created equal, teams are not,” declares one young athlete. “Teams venture into uncharted waters, challenge the laws of physics…” Players in the practice footage wear uniforms embroidered with words that echo the copy: declaration…teammate…brothers. Online ads end with a hashtag that consumers can use to join the conversation through social media sites.

All of the athletes are either current or recent high school football players and that gives the spots a sense of realism lacking in other sports advertising. “They’re not million dollar athletes, they’re just kids,” says McStravick. “That helps viewers identify with them.”

McStravick poured through more than eight hours of source material to produce six ads. (A seventh ad was edited by Treehouse’s Peter Tarter.) “The stories were open to interpretation; there weren’t strict boards,” McStravick says. “We were able to go in whatever direction felt right. It came together very organically with the script.”

The campaign was McStravick’s first for Treehouse, which launched last month. “I am thrilled with how well the campaign has been received,” he says. “It was great working with the team from The Richards Group. They were very collaborative and open to ideas. The whole project flowed very well and that shows in the end product.”

Agency: The Richards Group, Dallas. Rob Baker, group creative director; Jimmy Bonner, creative group head/art director; Bo McCord, creative group head/art director; Sheri Cartwright Agency producer
Edit: Treehouse, Dallas. John McStravick, editor/sound designer; Bryan Bayley, Finishing; JJ Wilmoth, executive producer.
Post: Filmworkers, Dallas. Matt McClain, colorist.
Production: Harvest Pictures. The Hoffman Brothers, directors.
Mix: 3008. Matt Cimino, mixer (Declaration only).
Music: Dandelion Music. Scott Mann, composer. (Declaration, Rite of Passage, Promise, Sacrifice, Teammates, Brothers.)