Über Content’s Eliot Rausch directs “Trust Your Power,” a heartfelt portrait of San Francisco 49ers All-Pro linebacker, Patrick Willis. The film, created for Duracell by Saatchi & Saatchi, NY premiered live before the 49ers home opener at Candlestick Park. With an utterly epic score by composer Adam Taylor, the two-minute film follows Willis’ journey a young man in Tennessee to the NFL’s best defensive player.
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“Many of the moments in the film are symbolic of Patrick pushing past some of the more difficult times in his life in order to get to where he is today,” said Rausch. “We’re really thankful for everyone behind Patrick’s journey who helped us make this film. Together they’ve overcome so much; we wanted to tell a story that was both fair and true. In documentary work, that can be a challenge, but I actually enjoy that space. Those difficult moments are when the people you’re filming forget the camera is there and you see them in a very real and unguarded way.”
Adam Taylor, Rausch’s close friend and longtime collaborator, wrote the film’s moving score. “I always say that Adam and I would approach a film in the same exact way even if our roles were reversed and he was the director and I was the composer,” said Rausch “For a heartfelt film like this, it was important to have something built specifically for the piece with emotion behind it.”
Looking back on it, on how I got to where I am, I don’t know if it was because I was running toward something or running away from it. But that didn’t matter. What I did know is, when you run into something, something bigger, something meaner, something with the power to knock you down, you have to trust in yourself, trust that you can get back up and not give in – ever. Because power isn’t just about going forward; it’s about not letting anything hold you back. If you find that in yourself, you can go anywhere you want.
Trust the power within.