On Celebrates Africa’s First Olympic Skeleton Racer In New Short Film

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

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