Director Tony Kaye Becomes a Citizen of Hopenhagen

Director Tony Kaye Becomes a Citizen of Hopenhagen

ACCLAIMED DIRECTOR EMBRACES MESSAGE OF HOPE Plans Street Exhibition in Los Angeles for Campaign, December 9th

NEW YORK, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- In support of the global "Hopenhagen" campaign designed to deliver a message from the citizens of the world for climate change at this week's United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, leading Director Tony Kaye has become an advocate for the movement - staging impromptu concerts on the streets of London, an art 'happening' in Berlin and directing an agitprop film that has become part of the global campaign.

Mr. Kaye said that he will take his support for climate change to the streets of Los Angeles on Wednesday, December 9th, to coincide with the meetings taking place in Copenhagen, and will stage a "street exhibition." The event, titled "Urban Lights Hanging Blowing Gently on The Trees, In the City of Angles my Los Angeles," will take place outside the Gagosian Gallery on Camden Drive in Los Angeles. A second exhibition will take place outside the Museum of Contemporary Art.

"The Hopenhagen campaign was developed to inspire the citizens of the world to create their own messages of hope and Tony Kaye took that idea and became one of the campaign's most ardent participants," explained Tham Khai Meng, Worldwide Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather, the agency that created Hopenhagen. "When I reached out to Tony to see if he could create a film about this movement, little did I know that he himself would embody the message of hope that we wanted to spread."

The powerfully simple idea - turn the city of Copenhagen into the city of "Hopenhagen," was created to deliver a message of optimistic change and encourage the citizens of the world to connect directly with their leaders and demand a solution at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (Cop15) now happening this week.

Kaye initially began collaborating with the agency this summer on a film that chronicles a young woman's travels around the world spreading messages of hope (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/07/hopenhagen-hope-what-is-h_n_383112.h tml). As the making of the film evolved from country to country, Kaye also started to develop his own messages of hope through his various creative pursuits.

"I saw the opportunity to work on Hopenhagen - not as a job - but as an opportunity to make a difference," explained Mr. Kaye, who donated his time pro bono to the project. "My personal belief in making the world a better place as expressed through my various creative endeavors had an ideal outlet in the Hopenhagen idea."

In the film directed by Tony Kaye, the positive young woman who is seen spreading messages of hope eventually lands in the city of Copenhagen. There she takes green paint and changes the "C" in signs for Copenhagen to an "H", demonstrating the power that one letter can have in creating a mission around Hope.

The video will be released for use on network and cable television stations around the world, for online distribution and will air in out-of-home media negotiated and arranged pro-bono.

The Hopenhagen campaign urges citizens of the world to visit the Hopenhagen.org website (www.hopenhagen.org) , sign a petition demanding their leaders support climate change, and share their messages of hope through social media applications. It includes a wide variety of creative elements developed pro-bono by leading photographers and directors as well as many agency, media and marketing partners.

The Hopenhagen movement, overseen by the International Advertising Association in conjunction with Ogilvy & Mather, represents support for the United Nations, which calls for a climate treaty that is "ambitious, fair and effective in reducing emissions." Through the support of the IAA and a coalition of the world's leading advertising, marketing and media agencies, Hopenhagen is an empowering platform, giving global citizens a way for their voice to be heard and lead the leaders from 192 countries to a positive outcome at the UN Climate Conference.

Source: Ogilvy & Mather

CONTACT: Toni Lee, +1-212-237-5090, office, or +1-917-679-7631, cell,
for Ogilvy & Mather

Web Site: http://www.hopenhagen.org/

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