Superhero Dads At Center Of Short Film

Robert Clifton, Jr. is the co-founder of Contender, an advertising agency based in Chicago, Ill. PHOTO BY KIM SALTER.
Robert Clifton, Jr. is the co-founder of Contender, an advertising agency based in Chicago, Ill. PHOTO BY KIM SALTER.

Superhero Dads At Center Of Short Film

By Tia Carol Jones

A local creative agency has come up with a way to show the superpowers that dads possess through a short film. Contender recently released the animated short film, “Answering the Call,” for Walmart’s Black and Unlimited Platform. The short film features the League of Black & Unlimited Dads, a group of fathers from different backgrounds who are able to use their superpowers to fix problems and save the day.

The five-minute animated short film was created by Martian Blueberry, an animation studio which was co-founded by Carl Jones, who is known for his work on “Hair Love” and “The Boondocks.”

Contender was founded by Robert Clifton, Jr. and Kristian May Stewart, Ph.D. Clifton was aware there was a lack of diversity in advertising. He and Stewart wanted to create an agency of the future, with a focus on how the country was changing demographically and clients were looking to engage consumers in a meaningful and authentic way. Contender seeks to give people who are of, from and about Black culture an opportunity to be recognized and respected to help brands connect with consumers.

“What we’ve done is try to rally together the most talented people in the industry in order to bring things to life and connect with other consumers from the culture,” Clifton said.

Clifton said the goal of the short film was to highlight the ways Black dads are able to use their skills to solve everyday problems, which can be seen as superpowers. He also wanted to create a positive narrative around Black fathers.

“I have a bunch of friends that I grew up with ... and they’re all great dads, they’re working hard and they do the best they can for their children, but you don’t really see that portrayed in the media, it seems to lean into the negative,” he said.

Contender has been working with Walmart on content for Father’s Day for a couple of years. Last year, Contender worked on a campaign for Walmart for Father’s Day that showcased stories from Black directors about Black dads and it was shown at the American Black Film Festival in Miami. This year, Contender decided to take it up a notch and wanted to portray the dads the way children see their fathers, as superheroes.

“The dad always comes to the rescue, he makes things happen … Dad always makes things happen, you don’t know how he does it,” Clifton said.

Because Contender is a Black-owned agency, when they want to tell stories, they naturally look to top talent to bring those stories to life. Because Jones is a top talent in entertainment, the team at Contender wanted him to come on to the project. It helped that the team was already fans of Jones’ work from “Hair Love” to work Martian Blueberry has done for the Negro League. Clifton said it took about a month and a half to complete the project. The goal was to release the short film in the beginning of June as a lead up to Father’s Day.

Clifton said the finished project exceeds his expectations. When thinking about the project in the beginning, he had a vision, but to see the touches and nuances, it was beyond his wildest dreams.

“Martian Blueberry is just amazing in their ability to tell stories. Animation allows you to stretch things out a bit, because you can get a lot of emotion from characters’ faces and the angles and the way they move, so they brought that to life,” Clifton said. He added that everyone on the project challenged each other to make the story as immersive and dynamic as possible.

People have been excited to see the short film and Black fathers have felt a sense of pride when they see the film. People have told Clifton that the short film is something that is really needed and they want to share it on their social media channels.

To view The League of Black & Unlimited Dads Answering the Call, visit https://www.walmart.com/shop/home-supporting-black-communities. For more information about Contender, visit www.contenderlabs.com.

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