CancerBae Classic Basketball Tournament

CancerBae, the UK community interest company focused on destigmatizing cancer, has teamed up once again with POD LDN to launch a digital and social campaign for the social enterprise’s annual CancerBae Classic basketball tournament.

The latest tournament, bringing together elite under-12 basketball teams from across the UK, takes place from 28th–30th August at Surrey Sports Park. The campaign, designed to raise awareness of the event, centres on a 60-second hero film showing kids joyfully playing basketball, hanging out and bringing the game and the fun beyond the basketball court into the local streets, parks and playgrounds, set to the soundtrack of a mashup of Drake’s “Nice for What & The Jackson 5’s I Want You Back” The film was created by POD using footage shot by director Jamie Wolfeld.

As part of the campaign, POD LDN also created a series of teaser films using footage from last year’s event. The main film and teasers will be broadcast on sports entertainment platform DAZN from August 26th.

The campaign is also supported by a 15-second teaser film created using UGC content provided by CancerBae and edited and produced by POD LDN, which is running on CancerBae’s Instagram, TikTok and YouTube .

The films aim to capture the energy of the tournament as well as CancerBae’s community spirit, helping to build anticipation, raise awareness and encourage audiences to get involved. CancerBae Classic, founded by former professional basketball player Will Wise after he was diagnosed with cancer, champions inclusion, support and positive change, with every game helping to raise awareness and funds for CancerBae.

The POD LDN team refined and finalised the edits, shaping the pacing, narrative and overall flow, as well as applying motion graphics. The team’s involvement also extended into pre-production guidance for the new shoot.

POD LDN collaborated on last year’s campaign for CancerBae and works with the organisation on a pro bono basis.

Adrienn Major, Founder at POD LDN, said: “It’s wonderful to work with CancerBae again. It’s such an inspiring social enterprise, and it’s great for our team to be able to lend our production skills to this kind of work to capture the joyful spirit of the kids who take part in the tournament.”

Will Wise, Founder & CEO of CancerBae, said: “Basketball has always been about so much more than what happens on the court. The CancerBae Classic is about giving young people an experience they’ll remember, bringing communities together and using the game we love to open conversations around cancer in a way that feels positive, hopeful and full of life.”
“POD really understood that. They’ve managed to capture the energy, joy and personality of the Classic while still staying true to what CancerBae stands for. As a small organisation, having a team of this calibre continue to believe in our mission and give their time and talent to us pro bono means more than I can put into words. We’re incredibly grateful to Adrienn and the entire POD LDN team, and I can’t wait for people to see what we’ve created together.”