AbbVie AEM

ANNUAL GLOBAL ALL-EMPLOYEE MEETING OPENING VIDEO

5 YEARS | 5 ANNUAL FILMS | GLOBAL EMPLOYEE AUDIENCE

OVERVIEW

Each year, AbbVie’s All Employee Meeting brings employees around the world together to reflect on the company’s progress, recognize its people, and look toward what comes next.

From 2022 through 2026, I helped create the opening films that kicked off these global events—developing a body of work that evolved year after year while maintaining a consistent sense of energy, scale, and purpose.

My involvement grew alongside the work. What began primarily as editorial and motion design execution developed into a broader creative role spanning concept development, storytelling, visual direction, animation, editing, music, and sound design.

THE CHALLENGE

An All Employee Meeting opener has a unique job to do.

It needs to capture attention immediately, establish the emotional tone for the event, communicate the scale and momentum of a global organization, and make thousands of employees feel connected to something larger than their individual roles.

At the same time, each year's film needed to feel distinctly new.

Rather than repeating a formula, our challenge was to continually find a fresh visual and editorial approach—one that reflected that year's messaging while still feeling unmistakably connected to AbbVie.

MY ROLE

Across the series, I served as the lead editor and animator, while also taking on an increasingly significant role in the creative development and direction of the films.

My responsibilities included:

Creative concept development and visual exploration
Story and narrative development
Editorial structure and pacing
Motion design and animation
Typography and graphic systems
Music selection and editing
Sound design and audio finishing
Translating feedback from stakeholders into cohesive creative solutions
Maintaining quality and consistency from initial concept through final delivery

By the later films in the series, my role extended well beyond execution. I was helping determine what the film should be, how the idea could work visually, and how every element of the final piece could reinforce that idea.

THE APPROACH

Each year began by identifying the central idea behind the meeting and determining how that message could become an experience rather than simply a collection of information.

From there, I worked with the broader creative team to explore concepts, develop narrative structures, and establish the visual language of the film.

The creative approach evolved considerably across the five-year run. Some years leaned heavily into cinematic editorial storytelling, while others relied more on graphic systems, typography, animation, or unexpected transitions between real-world imagery and designed environments.

Beginning in 2024, the concepts I helped develop were selected as the creative direction for the final films, giving me an opportunity to influence the projects from their earliest stages through final delivery.

That continuity allowed me to think beyond individual shots or animations and instead consider the entire experience—how the story builds, where the energy changes, when the audience needs a moment to breathe, and how picture, motion, music, and sound can work together to create momentum.

THE OUTCOME

The AbbVie AEM films became an ongoing creative partnership spanning five consecutive years, with each project building on the trust established through the work that came before it.

From 2022 to 2026, the series gave us the opportunity to continually raise the creative bar—introducing new visual ideas, storytelling techniques, and production approaches rather than relying on the previous year's solution.

For me, the work also represents the evolution of my own role: from leading post-production execution to helping shape the creative direction of large-scale, high-visibility brand experiences from concept through completion.

The result is a collection of films that each have their own identity while sharing the same purpose:

Create energy. Build connection. And give thousands of employees a powerful way to see themselves as part of AbbVie's larger story.