M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Having created, directed and produced more than 600 award-winning TV and radio commercials, as well as short and longer-format films, there is a very good chance Grant Baird has won more Emmys, Clios, Addys, Film Festival, Gabriel, Mobius, Telly, Creativity and other awards than virtually any other creative/director in cause marketing today.

Recently, Chief Creative Officer of Audience Alliance Motion Picture Studios, Kieth Merrill, announced that Grant Baird has joined AAMPS to produce Christmas Jars and will serve on-going as the coordinating producer for all of AAMPS film projects.

Says Merrill, “Baird has a long list of awards and accomplishments and will be a great asset to Audience Alliance. We are thrilled to have him on board.”

If you have ever shed a tear over a commercial, advertisement or public service announcement, Baird most likely created it. He is known as “a legend in the business of creating emotion.”

Baird continues to create, direct, produce and oversee ads for, “The Foundation for a Better Life,” a non-profit, privately funded institution that promotes values. The foundation’s ads have been seen on thousands of movie screens across the United States, garnering the top Public Service Advertising award for the last eight years running and receiving the most donated air-time of any PSA’s in the country.

Recently, he and Merrill recently returned from an eight-day whirlwind trip to scout locations for Christmas Jars.

And how does Baird feel about this new assignment?

“I have known and worked with Kieth Merrill for thirty years,” he says. “I started working with Peter and Ken Rancie in Melbourne twelve years ago. I love these guys. I just absolutely feel so good when I’m with them. They make me laugh. I love it that they want to do the very things I have wanted to do. They are such huge thinkers that it stretches me to keep up. We can contribute so much that is positive together.”

And when it comes to Christmas Jars, he readily admits, “Christmas Jars is a chick flick that works. It will be in theaters, on DVD and on television, and who knows what other media, for years and years to come. It is a great ‘first film’ because it’s one of those movies that is sure to capture hearts, become a classic and lift people’s spirits for a very long time and in very many countries."

Baird is excited to be part of the entire Audience Alliance film production process as well. “This is a nice change for me,” he says. “I was involved in long format production years ago and ended up gravitating, for the last fifteen or so years, to television commercials and short films — many of which have won very prestigious awards. I’ve tried to work on those projects that are close to my heart, that lift the world and bring light to the human family. This is a chance to work on stories that matter — that will be done at the highest standard with the best people for the best audiences whose lives will be brighter and happier for the experience.”

As he looks forward to all of the exciting opportunities that lie ahead, he adds, “I have loved creating and directing commercials for the likes of, The Foundation for a Better Life. The Audience Alliance movies are like those commercials, but much longer and, because of this, perhaps more influential to a wider audience. I love this stuff.”

In his ongoing reign as the king of creating emotion, it is now Audience Alliance’s turn to benefit greatly from the legendary talents of Grant Baird.

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