BTS with 18 Feet & Rising, RCA & Emil Nava for HoF

18 Feet & Rising's ECD Anna Carpen: 

What was the brief which the client approached you with?

Make the public not cry and tingle with excitement instead. 

Did you immediately know what you wanted to do for the campaign or were there a few iterations along the way?

We had 85 ideas. Ranging between the truly unachievable, the dreadful and the downright scary. We landed somewhere in the middle of all of this.

After a successful HoF campaign last year, and the continued focus on large brands’ Christmas advertising campaigns, how much pressure did you feel to deliver something special this year?

Any brand doing Christmas advertising is going to be feeling pressure. The British public are very short on money right now and everyone is fighting for their attention. 

Are you a fan of the focus put on the UK’s Christmas advertising and do you think it’s helped improve the creativity of Christmas commercials?

Yes, it’s fantastic. It’s the most exciting time for story telling. It’s the UK’s Super Bowl but the whole world watches. It’s coming for you, whether you're ready or not.

What was the hardest part of putting this project together?

Every aspect of it was hard, every wardrobe choice, casting choice, director choice, song and artist choice. It was all painful. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

And the most rewarding? 

The collaboration between hundreds of many different talents. 

When will you start working on HoF’s 2017 Christmas campaign?

Tomorrow. 

Ammolite Inc's director Emil Nava: 

How did you approach the job? 

It was about taking all the big ideas and creating one overall identity, alongside injecting the big dance numbers. We wanted to give the dance a narrative flow throughout all of the scenes, which felt like a story that built as we went along.

What was the casting process like? 

I've directed a number of dance projects in the past so it was amazing to see around 200 dancers show up to the casting. We knew we had to find our lead girl, who had to stand out. When Demi walked in; we knew instantly that she was our lead, which was very exciting. 

Our talented choreographer Suzette Brissett was very important to the job too. She’s has been doing jobs with me for years, but she hasn’t done a lot of commercials so this was an amazing moment for her to shine. She has a unique style, she was [previously] a dancer and she knows all the dancers [in the industry]. Therefore, it was a big collaboration between us. 

How did you find coordinating choreography while directing? 

Dance was the one thing that remained at the core of the project; it guided us through the worlds. The biggest challenge was getting the choreography right, but also  pairing it with the right dancers, camera angles and movement. It all had to be synchronised together; from a high heel dropping down a chimney to sixteen people performing a dance routine; to a crane swopping through the set. There was choreography in all elements of the film.

RCA Records & Epic's president Colin Barlow:

At what stage did you get involved with the campaign?

From the very beginning, the agency came to us with the song idea, we had the artist and we brought them together to create the music for the ad.

How did you find working with 18 Feet & Rising on the job?

It was a brilliant experience, they’re people that totally work as a team and made it a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Why do you think Mvula’s cover of the song worked so well for the spot?

It’s dynamic, exciting and unusual.