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Entrant: Havas New York, New York
Brand: The Harris Project
Title: "You Don't Know The Half Of It"
Corporate Name of Client: The Harris Project
Client Company: The Harris Project, New York
Client President: Stephanie Marquesano
Agency: Havas New York, New York
Agency Chief Executive Officers: Dan Lucey/Sarah Collins
Chief Creative Officer: Dan Lucey
Creative Directors: Tyronne Schaffer/Lindsey Rock/Chris Serna
Associate Creative Directors: Sarah Spicer/Eduarda Castro
Copywriter: Caroline Seibel
Art Director: Camille Walker
Agency Head of Production: Melissa Tifrere
Agency Senior Producer: Josh Kornrich
Agency Producer: Jamie Whitefield
Senior Integrated Agency Producer: Wyatt Smith
Agency Content Producer: Shoaib Ali
Agency Project Manager: Liz Leiser
Agency Chief Strategy Officer: Tim Maleeny
Agency Business Director: Suzanne Voss
Agency Corporate Communications Directors: Jocelyn Weiss/Mariana Delacqua/Aedyn Gorenberg
Production Company: Love Song, New York
Production Managing Director: Kelly Bayett
Director: Daniel Wolfe
1st AD: Louis McCourt
Executive Producer: Deannie O’neil
Producer: Tatyana Alexandra
Line Producer: Sarah Park
Cinematographer: Anna Franquesa-Solano
Production Designer: Christian Stone
Head of Production: Paige Kauffman
Production Project Manager: Julie Wald
Post-Production Company: Mathematic, New York
Executive Post-Producer: Hadi Dahrouge
VFX Producer: Andrew Turner
Edit Facility: Trim Editing, New York
Editor: Fouad Gaber
Editorial Producers: Eva Bartschi Klein/Tatyana Alexandra
Color Company: Company3, New York
Colorists: Simon Bourne/Chris Anthony
Sound Design Company: Barking Owl, New York
Sound Design Executive Producer: Gus Koven
Sound Design Producer: Paul Giger
Heads of Sound: Kelly Bayett/Ashley Benton
Sound Designer: Gus Koven
Sound Mixer: Stuart St. Vincent Welch
Senior Designer: Liberty Leben

Description:
Over 100 people die of drug overdoses a day in the United States. Yet, experts, politicians, and the public as a whole fail to acknowledge recent data that shows that more than 50% of Americans misusing substances also struggle with mental health disorders. Which means many are not being treated appropriately.

Harris Marquesano was one of these people. At the young age of 19, he died of accidental overdose after struggling with ADHD and anxiety for the majority of his life.

When the American healthcare system failed to treat both of his co-occurring disorders—ultimately leading to his tragic death—Harris’s mom, Stephanie Marquesano, founded the first and only national nonprofit solely dedicated to helping people see the connection between mental health and substance misuse.

The film twists a seemingly innocent drinking game—a relatable “rite of passage” that spans generations—to follow the story of one young woman as she slowly reveals the truth about how her mental health drives her substance use and vice versa. Helplessly, we witness her struggle to get through even the most routine moments: eating breakfast, going to school, being with friends.

The intentional repetition of “drink if you…” becomes a beating drum at the heart of the story, mirroring the cyclical nature of addiction as she’s forced into revelations she might otherwise avoid.

For this highly sensitive film to connect with young, skeptical audiences, the script needed to feel highly authentic. To ensure it reflected true lived experiences, each line was based on interviews with hundreds of people with co-occurring disorders.

The script opens with “drink if you…” challenges from our street casted actors. As it begins to grow darker, the lines are composited from the real experiences of those we interviewed. It is ultimately delivered in a flat and defeated deadpan, with little hope that the repetitive cycle will ever come to an end, building to a final cry for help.

The film launched 10/23/23 on the 10-year anniversary of the death by accidental overdose of Stephanie’s son, Harris Marquesano. It ran on donated media from AMC theaters, on pre-roll on Paramount Plus, Hulu, Fubo, and across social media.

More importantly, it has been integrated into schools and rehabilitation clinics across the country and has been screened for both local and national policymakers in an effort to establish a national comprehensive treatment program designed to treat mental health challenges and substance misuse together.

It has been covered in the press extensively, on morning news shows, and has even debuted in Washington DC.

It aims to reach young people at a time when they are experimenting, and may be unknowingly self-medicating themselves.