The next time you settle into a recliner at your favorite movie theater and the pre-movie ads start rolling, be on the lookout for a Coca-Cola Refreshing Films branded spot created by BYU students.
BYU AdLab students Adam Sheets and Destinee Neville were announced as the 2024 Red Ribbon Grand Prize Winner of the Coca-Cola® Refreshing Films program — a contest allowing students a chance to create a branded spot for the big screen. Their spot, “Signs of Friendship,” will screen in select movie theaters across the U.S. and Canada.
“Working together with Coca-Cola Refreshing Films has truly been the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Sheets. “I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of the BYU AdLab, which gives us these kinds of unique, real-world opportunities to work with industry-leading brands and empowers us to follow our dreams.”
The Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program is a platform for Coca-Cola–partnered schools that gives budding filmmakers an opportunity to create content for the big screen. Celebrating its 26th year, the program fosters talent and provides real-world opportunities for aspiring students. Grand prize winning spots are screened in select Coca-Cola partnered theaters in the United States and Canada, including Cinemark, AMC Theatres, Cineplex, and Landmark Cinemas.
Out of over 60 participating schools across the U.S. and Canada, BYU students earned one of the coveted finalist spots and received a generous grant of $20,000 to bring their ad to life. Armed with state-of-the-art equipment and guidance from industry experts, more than 50 BYU students worked tirelessly overnight at the Megaplex at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi to produce an ad worthy of the silver screen.
“You learn as much as you can from textbooks, but having a real-world experience was unlike anything I could have otherwise prepared myself for,” said Neville as she reflected on the experience. “There are hundreds of details I know how to address and juggle now — there is a workflow I know how to stay on top of. I know how to get in sync with a brand so we can create something together as a team.”
Both Sheets and Neville credit BYU’s unique university model in helping them expand their creative capacities.
“Brigham Young University is a safe haven where I can learn by both ‘study and faith,’” said Sheets. “Working on this project has been both an amazing professional experience and an even more important spiritual experience. Working together with Destinee and the influence of the Holy Ghost has created a dream team kind of scenario.”
Their winning entry not only captivated judges’ and voters’ attention because of stunning camera work but also because of its deeper message of love and friendship.
“I hope that when someone watches our branded spot this year they feel loved by their Heavenly Father,” said Sheets. “We hope they feel inspired to share the love of Jesus Christ with those around them, and we hope that we can keep creating messages of light and goodness for the world through advertising over the course of our careers.”
