News

WPN puts Actionaid on TV
Featuring Oscar-Winning Emma Thompson and Music by Enya

Oscar-winner Emma Thompson - star of the recent hit 'Love Actually' - is about to appear on British TV screens on behalf of development charity ActionAid in a moving appeal commercial made by DRTV specialists Watson Phillips Norman.

Breaking on 1st February on a mix of satellite channels, the commercial was specially shot in Ethiopia last October on one of Emma Thompson's visits to Africa in her role as an Ambassador for ActionAid, a charity she keenly supports. The commercial features local people inviting the viewer to join with them in fighting poverty. “These people are not just the have-nots, they're the haves as well. They have resilience, the like of which you or I could never dream of. They have intelligence and they have ideas,” says Emma.

WPN Creative Partner Maria Phillips worked closely with Emma during the location shoot. The commercial finishes with a group of local children holding up cards they made themselves with the response phone number. Maria is an award-winner in her own right: in 2002 her outstanding 'Mirrors' commercial for CRUK was recognised with a Cannes Lion as well as being named one of the DM Campaigns of the Year by Campaign magazine.

The soundtrack is Enya's haunting 'The Memory of Trees'. Enya, EMI and Warner have agreed to donate the soundtrack free of charge.

ActionAid is one of the leading charities involved in the fight against poverty in the developing world.

For more information on this story contact

Maria Phillips, Creative Partner, Watson Phillips Norman, 020 7307 6159

Imelda McGuigan, Joint head of individuals marketing, ActionAid, 020 7651 7651

Susan Mearns, Celebrity co-ordinator, ActionAid, 020 7651 7651 for photographs of the trip.