Since 2015, Everyone™ has worked alongside the New Zealand Defence Force Heritage and Commemorations team to create the visual theme for their WW1 Commemorations. For Anzac Day 2025, Everyone™ was asked jointly by the NZDF and the ADF to produce a short film to open the Dawn Service at Gallipoli, interpreting the theme of ‘Spirit of Place’.

This open brief provided Everyone™ with an opportunity to set a precedent for a more contemporary way to commemorate Anzac Day and respectfully honour the stories of those who served.

Working closely with New Zealand Sculptor, Professor Kingsley Baird, we introduced Baird’s three bronze cast soldier helmets as the focal point for the storytelling. We filmed them in the imposing landscapes of the south coast of Wellington and commissioned new footage of the Gallipoli Peninsula to include in the final film. The helmets, in their landscapes, were then laid alongside Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s ‘Words to the Anzac Mothers,’ shining new light on his timeless tribute.

The ‘Spirit of Place’ film amplified the tone of the commemorations - a reminder of the astonishing courage of those who fought at Gallipoli and how it will forever be a place of mourning and reflection. It recognises the past and embraces the present through a lens of shared humanity.

Throughout the years of creating visual identities for the commemorative services, we have had access to artefacts that once belonged to fallen solders. Learning about these items and their past allowed us to re-contextualise them within the natural landscape that they once existed in, transforming their meaning to become symbols of remembrance today.