Oscar Nominee Dee Rees, MPC Create Walmart Oscar Ad

Production company Anonymous Content and VFX studio MPC team for sci-fi short.

MPC and Anonymous Content produced 'The Box,' a Walmart commercial written and directed by Oscar-nominee Dee Rees.

LOS ANGELES -- Oscar nominee Dee Rees directed one of three 60-second short films inspired by Walmart’s blue shipping box that premiered during the Oscars telecast.

Rees’ sci-fi story was action-packed, featuring a space captain, sand monster and an evil commander. Rees’ The Box stars fellow Oscar nominee and Mudbound collaborator Mary J. Blige, and two-time Olympic Gold Medal Boxer and WBC / IBF Super Middle Weight Champ Claressa Shields.

“This was an incredible opportunity for Dee to write and direct a branded film,” says Anonymous Content Managing Director and Partner Eric Stern. “Walmart was a terrific creative partner who wholeheartedly embraced and supported her vision from start to finish.”

The production is led by women, including Mudbound Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison as director of photography, costume design by Colleen Atwood (Chicago and Memoirs of a Geisha), and production design by Hannah Beachler (Moonlight and Black Panther).

“We all know Dee is a fearless creative force, but with ‘The Box,’ she also brought an unexpected playful, otherworldly vision,” adds Executive Producer Lori Stonebraker. “We couldn’t be happier with the beautiful, inspiring story she chose to tell."

MPC worked closely with Anonymous Content’s Dee Rees to realize her vision of creating an epic sci-fi world. “It was great working with Dee and we all had absolute trust in her concept,” says Vadim Turchin, VFX Supervisor at MPC. “We had an amazing opportunity to use our talents to create a whole new world and a new character -- the monster -- turning it into something emotional and action-packed.”

Grae Revell, Lead Animator at MPC, added: “Being able to create creatures like the giant alien monster with tentacles is why we work in VFX; it allows us to channel our inner child. Creating new worlds entirely from scratch also enabled us to be really creative, giving life to new environments such as outer space and inside the hive.”

Credits

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Chief Creative Officer: Javier Campopiano
Executive Creative Director: Wayne Best
Executive Creative Director: Alex Lea
Director of Integrated Production: Jenny Read
Executive Producer: Dean Shoukas
Executive Producer: Diane Burton
Executive Producer: Zamile Vilakazi
Business Manager: Susan Schaefer
Business Manager: Cristina Mattson
Managing Partner: Beth Waxman-Arteta
Senior Account Director: Angela Brown
Account Executive: Jessica Shapiro
Writer & Director: Dee Rees
Production Company: Anonymous Content
Managing Director: Eric Stern
Exec Producer: Lori Stonebraker
Head of Production: Kerry Haynie
Producer: Jessica Cooper
Production Supervisor: Ena Nic

Editorial: Exile NY

Editor: Shane Reid
Producer (NY): Vietan Nguyen
Producer (LA): Brittany Carson

VFX: MPC

Managing Director: Camila De Biaggi
Executive Producer: Matthew Loranger
Producer: Sandra Eklund
Production Assistant: Jessica Rowley
Creative Director: Alvin Cruz
VFX Supervisor: Vadim Turchin, Eric Robertson
2D LEAD: Rob Walker, Iain Murray
3D Lead: Vadim Turchin, Mike Little, Tiago Dias
2D Team: Tobey Lindback, Renato Carone, Adam Yost, Alejandro Taylor, Giulia Bartra, Guillaume Weiss, Vivek Tekale, S. Samson Samuel, Ragesh R
3D Team: Tiago Dias, Alejandro Echeverry, Jimmy San, Mike Lombardo, Madeline Jackson, Graeme Revell, Jacob Fradkin, Zhao Wang, Francisco Fraga, Jemmy Molero, Roberto Maki, Wesley Schneider, Sue Jang, Jamie German, Michael Marsek, David Bryan, Neil Miller, Justin Braun, Flavia Minnone, Matthew Gifford, Morten Solgaard, Simon Legrand, Tushar Kewlani, Parineeta Jasiwal, Jyoti Prakash Panda, Pritesh Krishnappa Kotian, Kalaiarasu P, SelvaKumar k, Bakiyaraj P, Vamsi Krishna, Sachin Sureshrao Dhapudkar
Design: Olivier Silven, Tyler Gibb, Roger Hom, Edvin Cindrak
Color: MPC
Colorist: Houmam Abdallah
Color Assistant: Tanner Hladek
Exec Producer, Color: Meghan Lang
Producer, Color: Rebecca Boorsma, Elyse Robinson