{"id":18936,"date":"2018-03-05T10:41:47","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T15:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/?p=18936"},"modified":"2018-09-17T09:03:49","modified_gmt":"2018-09-17T13:03:49","slug":"the-making-of-make-it-yours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.samsung.com\/us\/making-of-make-it-yours-jesse-coulter-samsung-galaxy-s9\/","title":{"rendered":"The Making of \u2018Make It Yours\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf you<\/span> have an idea and a phone, you can create anything,\u201d said Jesse Coulter<\/strong>, the creative mind behind Samsung\u2019s \u201cMake It Yours\u201d ad campaign and Chief Creative Officer for Samsung Electronics America.<\/p>\n

The ad, part of Samsung\u2019s \u2018Do What you Can\u2019t\u2019 campaign, was directed and shot by two Oscar-nominated women, and is an inspirational call-to-action for creators of all types and platforms and taps into the current cultural moment of empowerment resonating out of Hollywood and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake It Yours\u201d debuted this week online and hits the TV airwaves just once, Sunday night, March 4, during the 2018 Academy Awards telecast.<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OxGtPsA6C9k<\/p>\n

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\u201cTechnology should empower and help you defy barriers, both internal and external,\u201d Coulter said<\/strong>, describing the \u2018Make It Yours\u2019 spot. \u201cWhen we talk with a lot of creators, which we\u2019re always doing \u2013 it truly is about the battle of getting started. For most people, there are barriers for why they don\u2019t tell their story.\u00a0 Half the battle is just going out there and doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In it, two young women armed with Samsung\u2019s newest smartphone \u2013 the Galaxy S9 & S9+ <\/a>— ponder whether they should \u201cmake something,\u201d when a glittering array of real-life creators, from aspiring YouTube artists to award-winning filmmakers, fancifully encourage them to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake them see something beautiful,\u201d says creator Molly Burke<\/strong>, an accessibility, anti-bullying and mental health activist whose visual impairment doesn\u2019t impede her own visual storytelling. \u201cMake something awkward,\u201d says Issa Rae<\/strong>, author and creator of \u201cThe Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl\u201d on YouTube, and \u201cInsecure\u201d on HBO. \u201cMake mistakes until you don\u2019t,\u201d says BMX athlete Nigel Sylvester<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Kicking the inspiration up a notch, the ad\u2019s director, Dee Rees, and cinematographer, Rachel Morrison, emerge from behind the camera in different scenes and celebrating accomplishing their own historical firsts.<\/p>\n

Morrison<\/strong>, the first female cinematographer to be nominated for an Academy Award for this year\u2019s \u2018Mudbound,\u2019 says \u201cAnd then you never know.\u201d Rees<\/strong>, the first African American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, finishes the thought: \u201cYou might make history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to shine a light on creators and tell the story of how they\u2019ve all done it their way,\u201d Coulter said<\/strong>. \u201cIt\u2019s also how Samsung approaches innovation to empower our customers with technology that enables them to defy barriers –Samsung strives to make the things that can\u2019t be made, so you can do the things that can\u2019t be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samsung\u2019s new smartphone \u2013 the Galaxy S9<\/a> \u2013 plays a supporting role, while the diverse cast continues to challenge the audience to just \u201cmake anything,\u201d and move beyond barriers \u2013 whatever they may be: budget, inaction, lack of inspiration and just \u201cMake it Yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMake them regret the day they passed on you,\u201d Rees subtly quips<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always pushing to make the camera quality as great as it can be and getting closer and closer to replacing bigger, more expensive cameras.\u00a0 What excites us most at Samsung is putting the best smartphone camera ever in the hands of many different types of creators that can truly defy barriers with our technology,\u201d said Coulter<\/strong>. \u201cWe think that\u2019s empowering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the ad\u2019s debut at the Oscars, it will run exclusively in digital media and select creators will continue telling their stories in social media using Samsung\u2019s Galaxy S9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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