Cosy Up with the Sound of Music in Sky Cinema's Christmas Ad

Sky Cinema today unveils its 2017 Christmas advertising campaign, led by a heart-warming 60-second ad centred on the Christmas classic, The Sound of Music.

The advert will make its debut on the official Sky Cinema Facebook page ahead of its national television premiere during Everybody Loves Raymond on 8 November.

It will also air during England's friendly with Germany on Friday 10 November, The X Factor on Saturday 11 November, and on the opening episode of the new series of I’m A Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here! on 19 November.

Built around the iconic The Sound of Music, one of the first films to be broadcast on Sky in 1989, the advert tells the moving story of a mother and daughter and the Christmases they spend together over the course of 25 years. Starting from the wide-eyed wonder of a four-year-old watching the film for the first time, the advert takes viewers on a touching journey through the years of teenage awkwardness and a gap year spent travelling, before finally revealing the daughter as a mother herself, beginning a new cycle of Christmas movie traditions.

Written by WCRS creatives Alicia Job and Jessica Watson, and directed by Ben Liam Jones at Strange Love Productions, the advert was shot on film to evoke the sense of time passing, and features an original arrangement by GOLDSTEIN of the famous "Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music.

The advert stars Maimie McCoy (Grantchester, DCI Banks and The Musketeers) as the mother, and sisters Billie (4 years old), Dolly (7 years old) and Beau (10 years old) Gadsdon as the daughter, two of which - Dolly and Beau - featured in 2016 hit Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - available on Sky Cinema this Christmas.  It is one of three TV adverts in a campaign that has a panoramic presence across television, out of home and across social and digital media. A second ad, promoting Sky Cinema's dedicated Christmas channel, focuses on the theme of a letter to Santa, and details the wide array of Christmas classics available on the channel.

The third, produced by in-house Sky Creative, is built around the theme of an advent calendar, and highlights the stellar line-up on Sky Cinema over the festive season including the top 2017 blockbusters Beauty and the Beast, The Lego Batman Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, a new premiere every day, and over 1000 movies available On Demand. The print and digital work for out-of-home and online builds on the advent theme and was produced by creative agency V3.

Luke Bradley-Jones, Chief Marketing Officer of Sky UK, said "The Sky Cinema Christmas campaign really highlights the huge role movies can play in bringing people together at Christmas. I always loved sitting down to watch BIG and it’s a tradition I’ve carried on with my own kids. The TV ad captures the essence of what Christmas is all about, and is part of a much broader campaign that we’re sure will appeal to movie fans, both young and old."

Leon Jaume, ECD at WCRS said: “A huge amount of skill and craft has gone into this little gem, but what I love most about it is that it comes from the hearts of Alicia and Jess, who wrote it based on their own Christmas rituals with their mothers."

Sky Cinema is available for just £10 per month to Sky customers*, and is also available On Demand** and via NOW TV. The advertising campaign is promoting one of the biggest ever Christmas line-ups.