"The Gift" is a 5-minute short film directed by Carl Erik Rinsch in 2010, created for the "Parallel Lines" advertising campaign by Philips, promoting some of their televisions. Unfortunately, Philips has removed their own website for the campaign and Wikipedia does not yet have a page for it. Therefore, I thought it would be prudent to assemble some information (current as of November 2011) and links regarding both Mr. Rinsch and the campaign for which "The Gift" was created.
* * Here are some places to find Carl Erik Rinsch...
An interview Carl Erik Rinsch gave about his Parallel Lines project, "The Gift" www.pocket-lint.com/news/32585/interview-with-carl-erik-rinsch
This website (for a company he works with, run by Ridley Scott) contains videos for "The Gift" and 13 commercials of his rsafilms.com/company/rsa-usa/director/carl-erik-rinsch
This website (for a company he works with, run by J.J. Palomo) contains stills and videos for 4 commercials of his: E300L Chinese Edition, Saturn Evolution, The Gift, and Exploit Yourself biglazyrobot.com
This YouTube channel (set up by an RSA associate, Cedric Mazzara) contains 9 of his commercials from 2008 and earlier youtube.com/user/cocktailc
This Facebook group (set up by a fan, Andrew Rochelle) exists to promote his work facebook.com/group.php?gid=110283559006259
* * Here are my favorite projects by Carl Erik Rinsch...
Parallel Lines short (The Gift) vimeo.com/13551796
Nike commercial (Exploit Yourself) vimeo.com/5318821
Saturn commercial (Saturn Evolution) youtube.com/watch?v=GM5IeIfgQB8
[Saturn is a German chain of electronics stores]
BMW commercial (BMW Road) youtube.com/watch?v=D2uKyKycRUU
* * Here is information about the Parallel Lines advertising contest that led to the creation of "The Gift"...
The Philips Cinema "Parallel Lines" Project was held in April 2010. In it, Philips TV partnered with RSA (Ridley Scott and Associates, who are all directors of fancy TV commercials) and YouTube (Philips' YouTube channel is here... youtube.com/user/philipscinematv) to promote their new Philips Cinema 21:9 LCD TV. The single requirement was to only use these 6 pre-written sentences to create a short film: "What is that? It's a unicorn. Never seen one up close before. Beautiful. Get away, get away. I'm sorry."
RSA members selected 5 ideas for short films out of nearly 50 director submissions, 1 from each of these 5 genres: drama, action, animation, science fiction, and thriller. The chosen film directors were Greg Fay (El Secreto de Mateo), Johnny Hardstaff (Darkroom), Carl Erik Rinsch (The Gift), Jake Scott (The Hunt), and Hi-Sim (Jun and the Hidden Skies). Their films were then created and premiered to a select group of journalists and bloggers on April 7, 2010, while premiering on YouTube the next day. (They can be viewed here... rsafilms.com/company/rsa-usa/rsa-entertainment/director/philips-cinema)
During August 2010, numerous amateur films (with the same single requirement) were submitted in a secondary Parallel Lines contest, called "Tell It Your Way". On August 22, ten of those were chosen by RSA and BAFTA members to be voted on by the public for the next 2 weeks, as announced on YouTube by Greg Fay. On September 5, the most popular five were viewed by Ridley Scott, who then privately selected the Grand Prize winner. After two more weeks of online voting, the People's Voice winner was privately established as a result of the popular vote. (View the People's Voice winner here... youtube.com/watch?v=wNBpaMKQPXM)
On September 21, 2010, the sixth official RSA Parallel Lines short film premiered on YouTube, and the People's Voice winner and Grand Prize winner were publicly announced on YouTube by Barney Cokeliss. He was the director of that sixth film, called "The Foundling", which was specifically intended to promote Philips 3D TVs. (The Grand Prize winner was "Porcelain Unicorn", which was nearly as good as The Gift, but in a completely different way. Amazing... youtube.com/watch?v=hRMcPJrWm-g)
* * Boxes were sent to some of the key blogging attendees 2 days prior to the April 2010 premiere, and they contained various objects intended to be clues about the 5 short films. Different attendees received different boxes...
theinspirationroom.com/daily/2010/philips-cinema-boxes
www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/04/06/the-philips-parallel-lines-project-a-mysterious-box-received
www.frontrowreviews.co.uk/news/parallel-lines-ridley-scott-associates-production/4783
* * The official Philips Parallel Lines website no longer exists, but there is still information online about that advertising campaign...
creativity-online.com/work/philips-parallel-lines-site/19630
theinspirationroom.com/daily/2010/philips-parallel-lines
www.lukegilman.com/2010/04/12/philips-parallel-lines-project-taps-five-talented-directors-for-five-incredible-short-films
An interview Carl Erik Rinsch gave about his Parallel Lines project, "The Gift" www.pocket-lint.com/news/32585/interview-with-carl-erik-rinsch
This website (for a company he works with, run by Ridley Scott) contains videos for "The Gift" and 13 commercials of his rsafilms.com/company/rsa-usa/director/carl-erik-rinsch
This website (for a company he works with, run by J.J. Palomo) contains stills and videos for 4 commercials of his: E300L Chinese Edition, Saturn Evolution, The Gift, and Exploit Yourself biglazyrobot.com
This YouTube channel (set up by an RSA associate, Cedric Mazzara) contains 9 of his commercials from 2008 and earlier youtube.com/user/cocktailc
This Facebook group (set up by a fan, Andrew Rochelle) exists to promote his work facebook.com/group.php?gid=110283559006259
Parallel Lines short (The Gift) vimeo.com/13551796
Nike commercial (Exploit Yourself) vimeo.com/5318821
Saturn commercial (Saturn Evolution) youtube.com/watch?v=GM5IeIfgQB8
[Saturn is a German chain of electronics stores]
BMW commercial (BMW Road) youtube.com/watch?v=D2uKyKycRUU
The Philips Cinema "Parallel Lines" Project was held in April 2010. In it, Philips TV partnered with RSA (Ridley Scott and Associates, who are all directors of fancy TV commercials) and YouTube (Philips' YouTube channel is here... youtube.com/user/philipscinematv) to promote their new Philips Cinema 21:9 LCD TV. The single requirement was to only use these 6 pre-written sentences to create a short film: "What is that? It's a unicorn. Never seen one up close before. Beautiful. Get away, get away. I'm sorry."
RSA members selected 5 ideas for short films out of nearly 50 director submissions, 1 from each of these 5 genres: drama, action, animation, science fiction, and thriller. The chosen film directors were Greg Fay (El Secreto de Mateo), Johnny Hardstaff (Darkroom), Carl Erik Rinsch (The Gift), Jake Scott (The Hunt), and Hi-Sim (Jun and the Hidden Skies). Their films were then created and premiered to a select group of journalists and bloggers on April 7, 2010, while premiering on YouTube the next day. (They can be viewed here... rsafilms.com/company/rsa-usa/rsa-entertainment/director/philips-cinema)
During August 2010, numerous amateur films (with the same single requirement) were submitted in a secondary Parallel Lines contest, called "Tell It Your Way". On August 22, ten of those were chosen by RSA and BAFTA members to be voted on by the public for the next 2 weeks, as announced on YouTube by Greg Fay. On September 5, the most popular five were viewed by Ridley Scott, who then privately selected the Grand Prize winner. After two more weeks of online voting, the People's Voice winner was privately established as a result of the popular vote. (View the People's Voice winner here... youtube.com/watch?v=wNBpaMKQPXM)
On September 21, 2010, the sixth official RSA Parallel Lines short film premiered on YouTube, and the People's Voice winner and Grand Prize winner were publicly announced on YouTube by Barney Cokeliss. He was the director of that sixth film, called "The Foundling", which was specifically intended to promote Philips 3D TVs. (The Grand Prize winner was "Porcelain Unicorn", which was nearly as good as The Gift, but in a completely different way. Amazing... youtube.com/watch?v=hRMcPJrWm-g)
* * Boxes were sent to some of the key blogging attendees 2 days prior to the April 2010 premiere, and they contained various objects intended to be clues about the 5 short films. Different attendees received different boxes...
www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/04/06/the-philips-parallel-lines-project-a-mysterious-box-received
www.frontrowreviews.co.uk/news/parallel-lines-ridley-scott-associates-production/4783
* * The official Philips Parallel Lines website no longer exists, but there is still information online about that advertising campaign...
creativity-online.com/work/philips-parallel-lines-site/19630
theinspirationroom.com/daily/2010/philips-parallel-lines
www.lukegilman.com/2010/04/12/philips-parallel-lines-project-taps-five-talented-directors-for-five-incredible-short-films