THE ENERGY WITHIN
Following a massively successful Olympic Games for Team GB, BP, in partnership with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), has released the final two films of its Energy Within campaign, centred on Paralympians Richard Whitehead and Shanntol Ince.
The first film of the final two films, entitled ‘Below the Ice’, features footage of Whitehead’s intense training routine – which features a chilling ice bath – and shows how, despite being mocked during his youth, Whitehead found inspiration simply in the potential to inspire others, as he sincerely claims, “The records, the medals – I’d swap them all to inspire others.”
The final film, featuring swimmer Shanntol Ince from Trinidad and Tobago – one of only three athletes representing her country at the games – is entitled ‘Deeper than blue’ and portrays the swimmer overcoming judgement and exclusion to defy her doubters and become a Paralympic athlete.
The pair enter the Paralympic games off the back of an incredibly strong Rio 2016 Olympics for Team GB, which achieved 27 golds to reach second in the medal tables for the first time.
BP’s association with the IPC has been long-standing, stretching back as far as 2012, whilst the partnership between the two, based upon an alignment of values between the two organisations as well as a substantial growth in public interest in Paralympic sport since the London Olympics, has existed since 2013. At the time of the partnership’s formation, Iain Conn, BP’s managing director and chief executive officer for refining and marketing said, “We are pleased to continue to support a movement that enables Paralympic athletes to inspire and excite the world through sporting excellence.”
The latest campaign by BP with IPC appears to be a continuation of that philosophy. Both of the final films of the Energy Within campaign, created by London-based agency PSONA Films, share a common theme of refusing to be defined by disability, and pushing to discover what the pair describe as their ‘energy within’. The films should provide an inspiring backdrop to the Paralympic games, where athletes will be hoping to repeat their 34-medal haul from 2012.
Managing director of PSONA films, Katy Eyre, comments, “The final two films for BP end the campaign on a real high. It’s been tremendously rewarding to explore the many different inspirations for the athletes and create films that demonstrate BP’s ‘Energy Within’ from many unique standpoints.”
The films will be featured on the Channel 4 streaming service All4, as well on BBC Worldwide (in certain regions).