First Pencil’s Justine Calverley crafts heartwarming journey home for Promise Agency and Capitec Bank

Justine Calverley and the team at First Pencil, led by Executive Producer Lebo Mabuela, are quickly cementing a reputation as home runners in the world of emotive storytelling. Their new spot for Promise Agency and Capitec Bank is a heartwarming story with moving performances, something we have come to expect from the team. The pace is stand-out in this commercial that deals with themes of family, love and sacrifice.

In Capitec’s new spot, Justine tells the story of a young woman learning to drive. She passes her driver’s test and gets a loan approved by Capitec to buy a car. The very first thing she does is take the long drive back home to see her mom and dad. The story doesn’t end there. She then takes them on their first journey to see the ocean.

Capitec Bank ‘Better never rests’ (Director’s Cut)

‘It’s a double whammy of all the feels at the end of this ad and it was 100% thanks to the agency. It is beautifully written by the team at Promise and we immediately fell in love with the script,’ says Justine.

To condense this big story, Justine used hyper cuts to allow for an accelerated pace, whilst giving the edit time to slow down the key moments and give them time to breathe.

‘Our story sections were big and a lot needed to happen, but they were not complex. There were clear actions so we could get away with those moments flying past. That said, our hyper cuts needed a certain tone. The shots still needed to elicit an emotional response’ adds Justine.

‘We had two weeks to pull this entire production off and only two and a half days to shoot between Joburg and Durban and I could not think of anyone else I would rather have had by my side than Justine.  She has such an eye for detail, whether she is directing kids, big cinematic car commercials or intimate stories of love,’ says First Pencil Executive Producer Lebo Mabuela.

First Pencil Director Justine Calverley and Cinematographer Adam Vinokur on location in Kwazulu-Natal

This tender story again solidifies Justine as a strong performance and narrative director who has steadily been building up an archive of commercials reflective of a director at the top of her game.

If you need some more examples go check out her work on Standard Bank, Omo or Fortuner.

(S)talk some more – First Pencil on IDIDTHAT and Company Website.

First Pencil’s Justine Calverley and Executive Producer Lebo Mabuela on location

Contact FirstPencil

Producer: Lebo Mabuela
lebo@firstpencil.tv

View IDIDTHAT Profile
View Website

Produced by the IDIDTHAT Content Studio – Credits: Anne Hirsch (Writer) / Julie Maunder

*This content may not be reproduced or used in any part without the prior written consent of IDIDTHAT. Reprints must credit I DID THAT.co (ididthat.co) as the original publisher of this editorial piece and include a link to this site.

This Editorial is paid for by First Pencil. Want our studio to create content that puts your agency/company/kickass ad you made in bright lights for the whole industry to see? View or editorial packages or contact julie@ididthat.co and we’ll make it happen! #Boom