Africa’s first winning Skeleton racer, Akwasi Frimpong (main photo), has teamed with Hungry Man Productions and Swiss sportswear company, On, for a new campaign film celebrating the trailblazing athlete.
Titled, ‘Black Ice’, the short 10-minute film, shows Frimpong’s first hand experience of Skeleton racing, which is basically a bonkers version of tobogganing in which the athlete travels 135kph on a tea tray, head first.
Based around a graphic novel, ‘Black Ice’ features a unique blend of hand drawn images intercut with live shots, depicting Frimpong’s journey from humble beginnings to becoming a symbol of pride for modern Africa.
The film was developed over a six month period, and includes segments filmed on location across Europe and Africa.
“’Black Ice’ comprises a highly original storytelling technique that is the sum of its live action and drawn elements that is rarely seen in a filmed production of this nature,” said Feliciano Robayna, executive producer and head of sports marketing at On.
“For a long time Akwasi’s dream was simply to make it to the Olympics. Despite all the setbacks, he soon saw the power of his achievements and what they could mean for Africa. He was no longer competing only for himself or a country, but for an entire continent.”
However, Frimpong is unable to participate at this year’s Winter Olympics given he contracted COVID-19 over Christmas with three qualifying races left, meaning he was unable to accumulate enough points to climb into the top 60 world ranking that would have granted him a 2022 Games berth.
Nonetheless, Frimpong has already started planning his arrival at the next Games in 2026.
“Everyone who worked on ‘Black Ice’ got inspired by Akwasi and his resilience and optimism – I think we all took something positive away from the experience,” said director, Richard Bullock.
“And I loved making this film. Being able to have the freedom to stretch and explore new ways of working is pretty rare.
“I’m so thankful to On for the trust and faith they placed in my hands. There was an amazing team working on this film around the world – creative professionals in Cape Town, Austria, London, Sydney, Los Angeles and Auckland, for a client in Switzerland.”
You can view ‘Black Ice’ in full here.
CREDITS
Client: On Running @on_running
Starring: Akwasi Frimpong: @akwasifrimpong86
On Running
Executive Producer: Feliciano Robayna @passport_hand
Producer: Gessica Giulini @yeuxdevenuss
Production Company: Hungry Man @hungrymaninc
Director: Richard Bullock @richbullo
Executive Producer: Matt Buels @mattbuels
Producer: Hannah Stone @hannahe_stone
Producer: Jack Beardsley @jackcontraband
Illustration: Dean Mortensen @mortensendean
Animation: Brett McManus @brett__mcmanus & Machines of Loving Grace @machinesoflovinggrace.tv
DOP: Theo Tennant @theotennant1
DOP: Devin Toselli @devintoselli
South African Unit:
Production Company: Gatehouse @gatehousecommercials
Austrian Unit:
Production Company: Creative Creatures @creativecreatures_austria
Post Production: Heckler @hecklerhq
Lead Editor: Andrew Holmes @andreweditor
Creative Producer: Coralie Tapper @coraliedawntapper
Executive Producer: Will Alexander @wilbawild
Credits Motion Graphics: Maud Chapuis @mdc2prod
Edit Assist: Daniel Page @page_n0t_found
Colourist: Fergus Rotherham @fergrotherham
Music & Sound: Heckler Sound
Rerecording Mixer: Dave Robertson @cameo_culture
Composer: Dustin Lau @dustinlaumusic
Executive Producer: Bonnie Law @bonita_badlands
PR Elliott Stares
PR Jessica Hartley
