ESCAC

Before starting, a bit of history about ESCAC. In their own words: The Escola Superior de Cinema i Audiovisuals de Catalunya (Cinema and Audiovisual School of Catalonia) was founded in 1993 as an offshoot of the vocational studies program in Image and Sound of Centre Calassanç. ESCAC is a member of the International Association of Film and Television Schools (CILECT), representing 120 educational centers specializing in audiovisual creation and filmmaking. It is a founding member of the European Grouping of Film and Television Schools (GEECT) and the Federation of Latin American Image and Sound Schools (FEISAL). In 2022 they launched a new Master's degree with a more commercial focus: Brand Storytelling. This brief created a unique positioning within the industry and the school and a design system around it. The new Master's degree, led by Marc Sanchez, Independent Creative Director and Luna Esquerdo, Founder & Executive Producer of Bambina, count on solid partnerships and a teaching roster: Aïda Cabrera (Communications Director at ETNIA Barcelona), Edu Pitarch (Creative Director at ETNIA Barcelona), Christian López (Independent Creative Director), Rafa Antón(Founder & CCO at CHINA), Marta Llucià (Founder & CCO at The Martians), Belén Torregrossa (Storyteller), Pablo Maestres (filmmaker at Primo), Laura Serra (Producer at CANADA), Natalia Brovedani (Press & Communications at Primavera Sound), Elsa Casadevall (Cost Controller at The Coca-Cola Company), Guido Rosales (Co-Founder & Partner at The Top Line Marketing), Marc Oller (filmmaker at CANADA), Dani Monedero (Executive Producer at Grayskull), Inés Segura (Executive Producer at Primo), Albert Soler (Founder & Managing Partner at MammaTeam), Erik Morales (filmmaker at Primo), Isahac Oliver (CMO at &Rosas), Pol Martínez (Creative Director at &Rosas), Maria Cerdán (Creative Director at &Rosas), Helena Marzo (Independent Creative Director), Lídia Valls (Creative Director at VMLY&R), Jordi Torrents (Partner Director at Collaborabrands) and Cristiana Zito (Head of Planning at DDB).

Marc Sanchez (who led brand strategy and Master Director) found an opportunity to position this Master as the underdog of the school and the industry. There was an opportunity to disrupt the academics and alumni perception of professional opportunities. The design story started exploring what "to be an underdog" means within the filmmaking academy and industry. It wasn't about just being disruptive per se but about the purity of filmmaking. This Master's degree is about reframing the content and the storytelling for commercial use, keeping the pure essence and the craft of Cinema. It's about thinking outside the established frameworks of Filmmaking. Because shifting means evolution. We hold this idea of being appealing but prohibited, this shameful entity that no one wants to admit they want to f*** with. The design system is a simple metaphor that confines the visual message within a rigid frame and the written one beyond it. We want students (and professionals) to push their boundaries of perception, understanding, and acceptance of the commercial use of filmmaking. It is less about a shameful burden but an opportunity for creative expression, just under a different lens or frame. As part of creative output, we developed a brand identity system based on scalability. Truthful to the positioning of the Master's degree, but also expandable to the overarching ESCAC brand and filmmaking in general in the future.