Compass Rose Group is Ushering in a Craft Renaissance
The history of filmmaking in eastern Europe is rich and varied, calling back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries - just like Western Europe. First came silent films, with filmmakers from the region making significant contributions to the medium’s development on a global stage, like Sergei Eisenstein's ‘Battleship Potemkin’. Under Soviet rule, the film industry was a thriving one, producing both propaganda films (as mandated by the ruling party) and influential avant-garde masterpieces, referenced by cinephiles to this day.
This is all to say that filmmaking - short and long form - is native to the region, and the craft is alive and thriving today. It then follows that some of the biggest global ads in recent memory were shot in the Czech Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria where filmmaking is rooted in history while executed in firmly modern ways.
In the age of tech-assisted everything, some brands are choosing to champion the practical, in-camera, and hand-crafted elements in their adverts that make watching something a real joy, and are heading east to get the shots and the expertise they need. We’re calling it a mini ‘craft renaissance' and taking a closer look, with the help of experts from the Compass Rose group - Stillking Prague, at the way they were thoughtfully crafted.
Czech Republic
Stillking Prague is no stranger to practical sets that transport viewers to magical worlds. For Service Now, in collaboration with Rattling Stick and BBDO, Stillking producer Lida Ashwell Ordnung reimagined Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory on purpose-built sets across two stages in the ‘Workflows’ spot. From the very start, everyone agreed that they wanted to maximise what was done in camera and leave as little as possible for post production. “We initially developed storyboards then broke down each frame and agreed with Framestore what we would provide for real and what they would need to do to fill in the missing pieces,” recalls Rattling Stick’s producer Johnnie Frankel.
The challenging production was heavily reliant on local experts, from art department teams to one of the best construction companies in Prague, Fancik to create the set. Two model making companies (Pec and Kovarik) likewise lent a hand to deliver everything on time while the SFX team at Phantom, and the props team at FL took care of vital details.
“Throughout we had real sets and then where necessary we used post production for set extensions and backgrounds. CG was used for things like the geese, butterflies, and snow falling. It was a really good mix of both but what was particularly enjoyable was having an agency and client who were totally committed to the idea of actually building beautiful sets which, in my humble opinion, very much helps to embed you organically in the real (imagined) world of Willy Wonka-something that’s a bit of a rarity in the modern age,” Lida adds.
The scale of the production was huge, requiring the time and expertise of a multitude of craftspeople. Johnnie says he worked very closely with Lida to get everything organised and extra caution had to be taken since the shoot took place during covid restrictions. “From the very start we were on zooms and phone calls every day (many times), hashing out numbers, designing sets, working on wardrobe, casting, lighting and camera gear… It was a very big production (we built huge sets on two different stages and shot exteriors on the back lot too) and it required a lot of planning,” says Johnnie.
Lida points out that the Czech Republic’s reputation for excellence in filmmaking can be traced back to 1898, when the first documentary was shot. “The first sync sound movie was shot in 1930 and our art department skills, with their precise touches, have been famous since then.”
“This was the biggest job that we shot remotely during covid. We had a zoom running with people from Prague, LA, San Francisco, New York and London. The shoot dictated the working hours which meant we had people in the States essentially night shooting remotely, it was very tricky,” Johnnie says of the process.
Still, there’s no one he'd rather do it with than Stillking Prague: “We have worked with Stillking for as long as I can remember.” The two are frequent collaborators. “Stillking is so good at what it does and has always gone above and beyond in its support of our projects over the years, so a bit of a no-brainer there. We needed two big studios, ideally next to each other, at a cost that wouldn’t break the bank, and we needed an excellent art department, construction and special FX team, so Stillking in Prague was the obvious choice,” Johnnie tells LBB.
The energetically soundtracked ‘In The Way of Possibility’ spot that premiered at the 2022 Super Bowl brings together classic and contemporary locations, alongside studio shots to capture the bohemian attitude embodied by Bud Light Next Zero. Produced by Jessica Ensor at Park Pictures and Michal Skop at Stillking, the shoot took place at the storied Barrandov Studios. It’s the biggest film studio in the Czech Republic and one of the biggest in Europe, with several Hollywood productions to its name including ‘Casino Royale’, and the ‘Mission Impossible’ and ‘Bourne Identity’ films.
“We were lucky to shoot at Barrandov Studios. They not only have the state-of-the-art sound stages and are well equipped to host any type of production, but one of the advantages of shooting there is that the stages already have a grid on the ceiling to hang whatever we need. This really made our work easier as we didn't have to deal with any additional builds, issues or delays compared to if we were to build everything from the scratch in an empty warehouse,” Michal explains.
Though shot in Prague, the spot looks nothing like it with its blend of locales and settings. Michal and Park Pictures’ Justin Pollock, MD + EP, note that creating a feeling of trans culturalism was the goal, which they were able to achieve. “What’s great about shooting in the Czech Republic, is that it has the ability to stand in for a number of international locations. It’s not what you’d typically expect Prague to look like at all,” Michal adds.
The art department was responsible for all the practical effects, like the rotating restaurant, in the spot, working overtime to get the details just right. A local SFX company developed all the mechanisms to make the restaurant’s interiors move and rotate - a significant task in itself. Michal says that “other than the stunning, versatile locations and fantastic infrastructure, we possibly have the best art department in the world, with a pool of incredibly skilled and talented people who are always 100% invested in each project. They go above and beyond to deliver. It actually comes from the long history of film making in the Czech Republic where the experience and knowledge of the art community has been passed down from generation to generation for decades. The artistic skills here are truly unparalleled to anywhere else.”
For Justin, working with Stillking on this ambitious project made the most creative and budgetary sense. “The Bud Light project came in with a very fast production timeline, an ambitious script, a tight budget and at a time when covid was surging. We considered a number of production locales but decided to keep the production within continental Europe. Once settling on Europe, we felt most comfortable with Michal and Stillking given our long working relationship and their ability to source high quality crews in a cost-effective locale. The shoot was not without its difficulties, given all we were tasked to deliver, but Stillking rose to meet the challenges and we were extremely happy with the results,” Justin adds.
Looking at the spots in question, it’s clear that the hand-crafted and the tailor-made side of filmmaking is not going away. If anything, the ‘age of AI’ is reiterating the magic that in-camera effects have on viewers and the sheer joy everyone takes behind the scenes in making the impossible happen on set. We’re calling it a craft renaissance and may it last for decades to come.
Compass Rose’s group of service production companies consists of Stillking Films Prague and Cape Town, Icon Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia, Entity Films Slovenia and Croatia, Spectrum Mexico and 24/7 Spain, Portugal and Chile.
