Porsche Awards 2013 Winners: Andreas Bruns

Andreas Bruns

Winner Automobile category

Mercedes-Benz: The Journey

I grew up in a small village in the Sauerland in Germany, an area known for its beautiful lakes, mountains and beer brands. After school I moved to Hamburg to do a three-year apprenticeship at a small video production company, and it was during that time that I created my own first short films and found my love for telling stories. It was while working for a commercials and music video production company in Vancouver that I got my first insights into the world of advertising, and back in Germany I worked as a freelance cameraman and editor before applying to study commercials directing at the Filmakademie in 2009.

The idea for The Journey came from a newspaper article about two tots from Frankfurt who ran away from kindergarten to get to the airport. When they were caught they justified their adventure by explaining that they had to head to Mallorca because the sand at their kindergarten wasn’t good enough. We had to smile when we heard this story for the first time – a very grateful smile indeed as it marked the birth of our idea – and my friend and copywriter Gunnar Heuwold and I developed the storyline together.

The casting was central and for me the main and most difficult task was to find a kid who was both cute and cheeky at the same time, and who immediately grasped the essence of story. Louis, the actor, was the eighteenth and last child at the casting and right from the first moment I thought he was the perfect fit.

It was also very difficult to find the right locations in Stuttgart, and if you pick out some of the key points from this project – such as casting a kid in the lead role, filming at night, in many locations and with a low budget – I often caught myself asking if I was nuts. But now I am glad that everything worked out fine. We all knew that it required good preparation, so right from the start we reduced our shot list and worked on solutions to cut down the actual shooting time.

We also got the chance to present our project to the head of marketing communications at Mercedes-Benz. He was immediately excited about the idea of supporting young, creative talents, and the spot was screened in local cinemas as well as on its Facebook page. I never expected the response The Journey has received, and the fact that it’s become such a success makes me really happy and I am just thankful. I am honoured to win this prize, especially in this special category. The film shows no packshots and no driving sequences and that makes it even more amazing for me to win this prize. I am really excited, and being part of a huge ad for Porsche will be awesome. I’m looking forward to it, and I am pretty sure it’s going be my own ‘journey’.

German, aged 31

Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, 4th year