One in three American households face problems with addiction; one American dies every four minutes as a result of addiction. The statistics are sobering, and DDB New York has partnered with Facing Addiction to do something about it. On October 4 2015, thousands gathered in Washington, D.C., to address this often-ignored crisis.
The Idea
Framestore joined the effort to concept, design and animate two 14 ft wide by 28 ft tall screens during the event. Called “Faces of Love”, it’s a loop played during the event featuring victims of addiction and those surviving addiction along with statistics and facts that will serve to highlight the very real scale of the problem. I wanted to be able to use the large screens on stage before the event began. Normally, you might see ads or sponsorship messaging before an event. As the area in the shadow of the Washington Monument began to fill, attendees started reading the stats. Some even found a loved one who they had submitted to be considered through an early outreach program through the Facing Addiction website.
Two artists who have publicly shared stories about battling addictions, Joe Walsh and Steven Tyler, performed at the free event The Aerosmith singer will perform with Nashville country-rockers Loving Mary, and the event also featured performances by Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell, the Fray and Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Reznik. All have dealt with addiction in a personal way.
I said in an interview, “When we were approached by Joanne Diglio [DDB New York], we jumped at the chance to help. We were able to design an experience that only just starts to capture the love and loss. Seeing and meeting the people [at the event] who were pointing to their submitted photographs on screen was moving. I realized that we were able to capture the humanity”.
I realized that we were able to capture the humanity.
Alexander Rea
