The One Show
The One Show is the world's most prestigious award show in advertising, design and digital marketing. For 50 years, the Gold Pencil has been regarded as one of the top prizes in the creative industry. The One Show has had a rich legacy of honoring some of the most groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.
Category
Low Budget
Annual ID
OS23_FI123M
About the Work
Joshua Ribera AKA Depzman was a well-known Birmingham grime rapper on the cusp of stardom, but his life was cut short after he was stabbed to death in 2013. Since his death there have been 1,877 more knife killings in the UK. The Joshua Ribera Foundation was set up to educate young people about the issue of knife crime. Government initiatives and ad campaigns clearly weren’t working so they needed a way to cut through and get the message heard.
Depzman was digitally brought back to life with deepfake to release one final song titled ‘Life Cut Short’ with an anti-knife message. With limited budget the video needed to be shot in one location, a derelict church was chosen to communicate the theme of lost potential. The music video was shot in secrecy with a body-double lip syncing the track. To create the deepfake on a small budget, the directing team worked with talent from the Youtube deepfake community.
On the anniversary of his funeral, the music video launched on SBTV, the UK’s biggest urban music channel. SBTV had launched Depzman’s career over a decade before and was the perfect media partner to resurrect him. The hyper-targeted media push ensured it reached our key audience of young people, getting 6 million plays in 2 weeks across YouTube, TikTok and Spotify – even ranking #11 on YouTube’s top trending videos. Without being pushed, the video was shared organically by music and culture accounts, grime fans and young people.
‘Life Cut Short’ spread across social media and into the news. It became part of Depzman’s legacy - even though he’s gone, his voice and message live on.
2023 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
McCann / London
PR / Marketing Agency
Weber Shandwick / London
Production Company
Intergalactic Studios / London
Music / Sound Production Company
Native Music / London
Post Production Company
Black Kite / London
Media Distribution Company
SBTV / London
Chief Creative Officer
Rob Doubal
Laurence Thomson
Creative Director
James Crosby
William Cottam
Director
Brightnight
Editor
Matt Dollings
Executive Producer
Pedro Pinto
Rhory Daniels
Tom Ringsby
Producer
Andrei Cebotari
Chief Production Officer
Ben Clark
Creative
Elliot Lee
Rory Peyton Jones
Music Producer
PhazeFX
Performer
T Roadz
Planner
Joy Molan
Strategy Director
Jj Bender
Account Manager
Rohin Lalli
Agency In-House Production
Craft / London
Business Director
Tom Oliver
Charity Partner
NSPCC / London
Colourist
Andi Chu
Deepfake Artist
MagicofBarca
Director of Photography & Editor
Paddy Cartwright
Head Of Production
Fred Ashworth
Managing director
Isaac Densu
Music Executive Producer
Dan Neale
Project director
Hannah Graff
Senior Project Manager
Georgia Wettenhall
Songwriter
Shadow CV
Alison Cope
Joshua Ribera
Related Awards
