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In 2007, Canadian police arrested Gerald Blanchard, charging him with 16 counts of theft and fraud. Canadian-born Blanchard had been raised by a single mom, growing up poor in Omaha, Nebraska. But by the time authorities caught up with him, he’d lived and stolen in Europe and Africa as well. Perhaps his greatest prize was an Austrian crown jewel called the Sisi Star, which he took in 1998 and returned in 2007 in exchange for some leniency from authorities.
Blanchard’s arrest and his return of the jewel made international headlines, catching the attention of filmmaker Landon Van Soest. In Hulu’s documentary, The Jewel Thief, Van Soest works with Blanchard to tell the story of his remarkable life of crime, starting with his Omaha childhood where he began committing petty crimes, through his time living in Austria where he stole the crown jewel, to heists in Egypt, London and Paris, until his eventual arrest in Winnipeg.
Denver-based creative agency Mass FX Media tapped into the story’s old-school heist vibe for The Jewel Thief’s main titles and motion graphics package. Mass FX included nods to Blanchard’s history, including a glimpse of his mother in their Omaha kitchen; the stolen Austrian crown jewel, the Sisi Star; and the parachute via which he allegedly escaped one job.
The Jewel Thief premiered July 13 and is now streaming on Hulu.
Here’s the documentary’s official trailer:
CREDITS
Client: Hulu
Agency: Mass FX Media
Motion Graphics Executive Producer: Shawna Schultz
Motion Graphics Creative Director: Matt Schultz
Motion Graphics Producers: Ryan Scobey, Stacey Piculell
Motion Graphics Art Directors: Wojciech Betlej, Brian Rouse
Motion Graphics Project Manager: Tracy K. Hindman
Motion Graphics Artists: Mason DeCecchis, Breece Kelsey, Aaron Lenius, Michael Neave, Eric Sinha, Carly Snowdon
Visual Effects Producer: J. Felipe Zamora
Visual Effects Supervisor: Matthew Steele Finley
Visual Effects Coordinator: Chiara Perez
Digital Compositors: Arleth González Martínez, Julie Henninger, Aaron Olivera Onofre, Gerardo Quintero Sandoval, Lorena Sosa