The Microsoft Family Safety app needed a launch film that felt warm, optimistic, and emotionally resonant without a single frame of live action. Early in COVID, when production logistics made a traditional shoot impractical, our creative team made the case to Microsoft that full 3D animation wasn't a compromise — it was the right choice, offering both creative freedom and the ability to build a vibrant, controlled visual world that live action couldn't match.

One of my first projects at Indigo Slate, I worked in a producer capacity here, managing all scheduling, vendor relationships, and production tracking across a distributed team that included a sound design studio out of London. Over 300 visual and motion tests were developed to establish the look and feel before a single scene was locked.

The story centered on a family followed across several years as their daughter Vanessa grew up alongside the app. The metaphor that ultimately unlocked the narrative came from an offhand comment during a client review call: the idea of representing the family as marbles. I recognized it as something worth pursuing and helped champion it through internal skepticism until it found its footing. It proved to be the conceptual key that gave the story both its visual identity and its emotional logic.

The campaign earned American Advertising Awards recognition for motion graphics excellence and resulted in a full suite of assets deployed across advertising, product pages, and social channels worldwide.