How Allianz's Flight of the Finch Turned A Predator Into "A Caring, Trustworthy Ally"

Allianz Australia has unveiled its new brand positioning, centered around ’Care You Can Count On’.

Developed in collaboration with creative partner Howatson+Company and brought to life with CGI from visual effects studio ALT VFX, the campaign has launched with a 'Flight of the Finch' directed by Finch’s Michael Gracey (known for award-winning movies like 'Better Man' and 'The Greatest Showman'). Set to Avril Lavigne’s 'I’m With You', the story follows a mother finch on a stormy quest to protect her egg — a metaphor for the storms and uncertainties in life.

LBB's Tess Connery-Britten caught up with Howatson+Company senior creative team Jack Close and Zak Hawkins, Trailer Media's Anton Trailer, and Col Renshaw, director and founder at Alt.VFX.

LBB> What was the insight that drove this campaign? How did it come about?

Zak> As we were being briefed, we heard story after story about the people at Allianz Australia, and it became obvious that there’s something in the water over there. A spirit of care runs through the whole business, from the front line staff to the CEO. It’s an anomaly in a category with samesy products and samesy ways of selling them, and we wanted to champion that.

Jack> We asked ourselves, what if in unexpected situations, Australians knew they could expect care? This brought us to the idea of the eagle and the finch, which at its heart is a universal story about a mother’s courage and the kindness of strangers. The eagle has long been part of the Allianz brand, so the decision to star a white-bellied sea eagle and a black-throated finch came naturally.

LBB> Why was it important to show care, rather than talk about it? And what did that require creatively?

Jack> We think it’s all about respect for our audience. If we’re making people sit and watch an ad for 60, 30, 15, even 6 seconds, we have a duty to entertain them. And there is nothing entertaining about a major brand reading out its values after the 6 o’clock news.

Zak> Most creatives want to make work that shows and doesn’t tell. But it takes real courage for brands to commit to ideas that break the convention of their category. In this case, a film about human adversity that heroes no human.

LBB> What was the most technically or creatively challenging aspect of bringing “The Flight of the Finch” to life?

Zak> Designing an eagle that is a predator in the real world but a caring, trustworthy ally in our film was a huge challenge. Fortunately, there are decades of stories and characters where animated animals defy their real-world behaviour that we were able to draw from.

Jack> Alt.VFX and FINCH Company are world class and not only handled these challenges well, but pushed and pushed right up until dispatch to craft the characters to perfection.

LBB> What about any challenges from a VFX perspective?

Col> Plenty. One of the biggest was making sure the transition between flying and grounded movement felt seamless and natural. Birds don’t move like machines—they hop, readjust, ruffle feathers.That transition required a lot of iteration in animation and rigging. We also had to carefully balance the shots using live-action background plates with full CG shots. That meant matching the lighting, and the camera movement style exactly , so that the audience wouldn’t feel a difference.

Another major challenge was designing the storm itself. It had to feel dramatic and dangerous, but not so intense that we’d lose our birds in the frame. We spent a lot of time finding the right balance in the light quality, the density and scale of the rain, and how that rain would interact with feathers—so you could still read emotion in the moment but feel the threat and drama. Working with Micheal (Gracey) closely we really focused on finding that balance between servicing the story and achieving believability.

LBB> What sort of work went into The Flight of the Finch from a VFX perspective?

Col> This was one of the most ambitious VFX projects we’ve ever tackled. We built the finch and white-bellied sea eagle entirely in CG, also built a bespoke feather system that allowed them to move more realistically -- whether flying or making landings. Every feather was simulated to respond to wind, movement, and rain. In parallel, we created full CG environments, suburbia that could transition seamlessly between the live action plates that were shot on location. Much of the story also takes place in a storm, so all the rain, lightning, wind, and atmosphere were created digitally, with a lot of attention paid to how it interacted with the birds and the environment.

LBB> How did you strike a balance between realism and emotional resonance when creating the birds?

Col> Thats always a hard one and the ever present danger is over anthropomorphising them. For us the foundation is always realism. We studied plenty of reference footage to understand the behavior and movement of these species, but we also wanted the audience to connect emotionally so that is when you can start dialing in the cuteness or the empathy by focusing on subtle expressions -- small head tilts, eye movements, and a skittishness for the finch that all helped convey emotion. We wanted the audience to believe in them, but also more importantly, to care about them.

LBB> You don't see a lot of Avril Lavigne in the insurance category – how did you land on 'I'm With You'?

Anton> Yes that’s true. We went for Avril Lavigne to evoke a positive, powerful and upbeat feeling with a pinch of nostalgia.

LBB> What do you think this track brought to the spot?

Anton> I believe the music added a sense of that there’s comfort and support even in difficult times, that feeling of hope and freedom when you have a safety net to rely on.

LBB>  Plus, we always love to hear about any fun or memorable behind the scenes moments if they have any.

Zak> Jack discovered a shellfish allergy the night before the first day of shooting and spent eight hours hugging the bowl.

Jack> Michael Gracey’s process is amazing. From the first storyboard, we all knew we were onto something good. Each step of the way we could see the story coming to life: animated storyboard into pre-vis. On set, editor Patrick Correll cut the edit live, scene by scene as we shot, compositing pictures with the pre-vis animation.

Zak> We walked away from wrap knowing the offline was going to be awesome, and then away from the offline knowing that the crew at Alt.VFX were excited and ready to make magic.