The Transatlantic Telegraph Cable – Citibank – Brand Film – BBC World

1 minute history documentary for Citibank’s 200th anniversary; this is one in a series of four broadcast brand films / long form documentary commercials, screened on BBC World News,

The series features great moments in recent history, in which Citibank was in some way involved. This episode looks at the laying of the first successful Transatlantic Telegraph Cable, how it transformed world trade forever, and laid the conceptual foundations  for the internet, over 100 years later. The goal of the series was to create something visually striking that told strong, concise stories with both a historical and contemporary resonance. We wanted to maintain a BBC World tone.

In this, the first episode, I used interview, archive and animation, blended seamlessly. The interview took place in the New York museum housing a portion of the actual cable today. 

This series won a runner up award in the 2014 Focal Awards for best use of archive footage. I have written a detailed post on the technique to create the rebuilding visual effect used in the Marshall Plan episode.

Client: Citi

Agencies: MEC & Publicis

Channels: BBC World News & others

Location: New York City, USA

Format: Advertorial