A cast of 30 publishers, retailers, agents and trade suppliers star in a wonderful new film entitled ‘Send a card, deliver a smile’ released today, which rejoices in the reason to send and the joy of receiving greeting cards.
Initiated by the GCA and written and produced by Lanther Black’s talented duo Jack Parker and Dominique Miranda, the film, which is now hosted on the GCA’s YouTube channel superbly relays in verse the important role greeting cards play in connecting people and showing you care for them. To see the video, click below:
As GCA president Rachel Hare, managing director of Belly Button Designs summed up: “A huge thanks has to go out to Dominique and Jack of Lanther Black for writing and producing this wonderful celebration of the power of greeting cards. We should all be very proud to be part of an industry whose product plays such an important part in building relationships.”
Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA urges everyone in the industry to now ‘share’ and ‘like’ the film on their social media channels. “The more likes and shares it receives the higher the film will move up the search engines, enabling us to promote our industry even more.”
The poem, written by Jack and Dominique, is delivered with great aplomb by many well-known industry faces, each delivering a line.
The poem covers self-isolation, social distancing, Colonel Tom Moore, saying thank you to key workers and importantly ends by encouraging everyone to send cards to those they miss or are grateful for having in their lives, echoing the GCA tagline ‘send a card, deliver a smile’.
Having invited all GCA members to participate, over 30 came forward, with the cast including retailers Leona Janson-Smith (from Postmark), Jon May (from Mooch) and Deborah Tingay (Southbourne Cards), individuals from 17 different greeting card publishers, printer Adam Short (of The Imaging Centre), agent Rosie Trow as well as the GCA’s Amanda Fergusson.
The idea for the film was sparked by Raj Arora, md of Davora mentioning at a recent GCA Council Zoom meeting how he had been involved in a collaborative film with businesses in his local area and how a similar project could work to get across a Thinking of You message for greeting cards. Knowing of the Lanther Black duo’s film talents Amanda and Raj got in touch with Jack and Dominique, who were so excited that they wrote the poem the same day!
“We were inspired by the stories of greeting cards being sent since the lockdown as well as the thousands of cards sent to Colonel Tom Moore, proof once again of the important role that greeting cards play in keeping us connected even when we’re kept apart,” says Jack, whose connections to the card trade include being the son of Berni Parker, founder of Berni Parker designs.
“At first, the thought of working with a cast of nearly 30 people was a little daunting, particularly while we’re all social distancing, but the way that everyone came together in support of the project is testament to just what a wonderful and creative industry we are a part of,” adds Dominique. She plays tribute to the ‘greeting card community cast’ for “putting in so much effort into scouting for props, recruiting family camera crews (or sturdy shelves!), rearranging their houses, learning their lines, shooting, re-shooting and doing their best to follow our obscure directions! And the clips that we received were amazing, you can really see the energy and passion shining through the performances.”
The cast comprises: Raj Arora (Davora); Anna Victoria Bridle (Anna Victoria); Jakki Brown (Progressive Greetings); Marina Brook (Marina B); Emma Bryan (Emma Bryan Designs); Clemency Bunn (Citrus Bunn); Henri Davis (independent retail advisor); Amanda Fergusson (GCA); Charlotte Gale (Pictur-esque); Rachel Hare (Belly Button Designs); Sarah Jackson (Stormy Knight); Leona Janson-Smith (Postmark); Ulla Klopf (Pabuku); Sarah Lewis (Alphablots); James Mace (The Art File); Dominique Maranda and Jack Parker (Lanther Black); Jon May (Mooch); Laura Sherratt (Laura Sherratt Designs); Berni Parker (Berni Parker Designs); Adam Short (The Imaging Centre); Issy and Leonard Smith (Leonard Smith); Rosie Tate (Cath Tate Cards); Jack Thorpe and Laura Harvey (Paper Plane); Deborah Tingay (Southbourne Cards); Rosemary Tratt (Rose Madder Cards) and Rosie Trow (South West agent).
Here is the poem in full…
Send a card, deliver a smile
I used to see folks every day
everywhere I’d go,
And when I saw them on my way
I’d always say hello.
Who would’ve thought that they would say
that all this had to stop?
Three feet away I’d have to stay
If I saw folks in a shop.
At first I thought it’d be okay
spending some time on my own,
But as I passed the days away
I started to feel quite alone.
But just as I began to mope
I heard something at the door,
then a shiny crimson envelope
tumbled to the floor.
I picked it up from off the ground,
whatever could it be?
Then when I turned it round I found
It was addressed to me!
When I peeked into the envelope
the thing that did appear
filled me with such joy and hope
that I grinned from ear to ear.
A greeting card is what it was
why ever could that be?
Well, the card was simply sent because
someone was thinking of me!
There’s no need to wait for a birthday
or for Christmas to be near,
A card can cheer up the worst day
at any time of year!
So that’s when I decided
that a card was what I’d send
to a friend who should be reminded
that I was thinking of them.
I sent one to my Grandpa Jim
just to say hello!
To let him know I’m thinking of him
Even though I can’t go.
I sent one to my friend who’s a key worker
to see if she’s alright,
to let her know I’m thinking of her
as she labours day and night.
We all sent one to Colonel Tom Moore
to show our appreciation
to a hero of the second world war
who’s once more an inspiration.
Then I sent one to the post office
to thank them for working so hard
to make sure that even at times like this
we can carry on sending cards.
So if there’s someone you’re missing
or someone you’re grateful for
don’t just sit there reminiscing
send a greeting card through their door!
And especially when times are hard
it really is so worthwhile
For whenever you send a card
you’ll always deliver a smile.
As Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA highlighted: “This poem and the film perfectly epitomise all the lovely heart-warming stories we have now on our Thinking of You Week website which celebrate the importance of sending cards.”
https://www.thinkingofyouweek.cards/category/news/
More from the producers: From acting to greeting cards
Dominique Miranda, who co-owns Lanther Black with Jack Parker explains more about their acting/film making credentials….
“We met 10 years ago when Jack moved down to London to pursue an acting career. I also had a performing background having trained at the Italia Conti Academy. Jack had been making films since he was at school so it wasn’t long before we started making them together. We wrote and directed a bunch of short films which screened at festivals around the world.
We slowed down our filmmaking for a bit while we set off on our greeting card adventure although Jack continued to act with leading roles on the stage, commercials for brands like Audi and Belvita and television appearances including Emmerdale, Eastenders and Casualty.
At the end of 2019, we made a short film to encourage people to support their local independent retailers. (https://www.pgbuzz.net/lanther-black-inspiring-film-in-support-on-indies/)
The Shop Local film was shared over 1,000 times and received more than 80,000 views which demonstrated the power of film and encouraged us to use it more to share some of the wonderful stories from the world of greeting cards.”
Top: The film was a collaborative effort between the GCA and the greeting card community.
