How TBWA\NZ and Good Oil Captured Sport Through a Five-Year-Old’s Eyes

2degrees, in partnership with TBWA\NZ, launched the SupportHER Club campaign to champion women and girls in sport, addressing the disparity in recognition, funding, and resources compared to men’s sport.

Central to the campaign is an emotive audiovisual piece showcasing a young girl’s first day in team sport, emphasising belonging, confidence, and community, with rugby star Katelyn Vaha’akolo providing the voiceover.

Speaking to LBB, Good Oil director Taylor Ferguson, cinematographer Maria Ines Manchego, and TBWA\NZ creative Felicity Buckham said the spot hopes to inspire and provide practical tools for grassroots support.

They discussed the emotional authenticity of the narrative, focusing on the universal experience of a young girl’s first day playing team sports, and explained their playful and inclusive approach to portraying sports, emphasising fun and camaraderie over competition.

They also elaborated on the technical challenges of filming from a child’s perspective, using creative camera techniques to convey the world through a five-year-old’s eyes.

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LBB> What was the creative process behind developing such an authentic, relatable, and emotional narrative of the young girl’s first day playing team sport?

Taylor> I’m so glad you felt that. We’re talking about different emotions throughout the spot, and this is something we felt the minute we got the script from the team during the briefing. Throughout conversations, we kept coming back to what it really feels like to experience the first day of team sport for a young girl. It doesn’t need to be specifically about a woman – I think all genders can relate to how exciting, thrilling, and scary it can be. I made sure throughout the script to block those emotions and tag them. I have a Google Doc for each job – a play doc – where I do a brain dump of references or ideas. It allows all HODs [heads of department] to access it whenever they want, and they can add their ideas too. It keeps us constantly thinking and meditating on it throughout pre-production.

LBB> How did you approach capturing themes of belonging, confidence, and community in a way that would resonate with a wide audience?

Taylor> I was constantly tagging moments in the script with the emotions I felt she could be experiencing, which then reflected in our shots. Blocking-wise, it was interesting because we talked about her heart. Maria and I had a funny moment where she said, “She kind of has a heart.” So we thought about angles – moments where she’s looking up or down, shy or admiring someone, or even distracted, looking at the sky before being called back.

I think we all connected really well on a similar taste, which helped the spot. We were all driving for authenticity. The luxury – and the scary part – was the trust the team gave us. We storyboarded and were specific with our shots, but we also delved into the playful side of things.

Maria> For me, it was about thinking about the lens and what the world looks like to a five-year-old. We considered using a snorricam rig, but you can’t attach an ARRI camera to a five-year-old for obvious reasons. So, we tried to create the sense that the camera was travelling with her without being attached. We thought about how the camera moves, the levels, and keeping parts of her in the frame – like her hand being dragged by her mother. Taylor’s idea was to keep her obscured until the final reveal, which worked well with the concept of how you see yourself by seeing others.

Taylor> Yeah, it was interesting. When we were briefed, we met the girl in the script at the beginning. But through conversations, we thought about how to keep the suspense and the audience in the experience. If you introduce the girl at the beginning, it’s her experience, but by keeping her obscured, it keeps the audience intrigued.

Felicity> The team did an incredible job creating that playfulness. This is a hard-hitting spot – girls are twice as likely to drop out of sport – but we wanted to avoid making it just a “worthy” spot. We’re a bit allergic to that, especially when it comes to women. Being playful was really important. The research shows that competition is more encouraging for men, but not necessarily for women. So, we wanted to remind everyone that sport isn’t just about competition – it’s about community, excitement, and developing skills while having fun with your mates. Showing girls hanging out, playing basketball, or eating a sausage is just as important as the game itself.

We also wanted to capture the anticipation of a girl’s first day of sport, which is why the obscured shots and feeling small worked so well. The soundtrack balanced excitement and anticipation, making it feel authentic and real.

LBB> The collaboration with rugby star Katelyn Vaha’akolo on the voiceover is exciting – was she involved in the production?

Felicity> She wasn’t involved in the production, but oh my gosh, I have such a crush on her now. Watching her and Taylor together was a career highlight. The client pushed for authenticity – they wanted someone who had gone through the experience to tell the story. Katelyn could be a little girl, an auntie, a friend, or even who the girl visualises herself as in the future. It was about giving it that authentic voice and straying away from the typical voiceover style.

Taylor> Yeah, we initially talked about having an older voice, but when we met Katelyn, she had so much wisdom and was also very childlike. She was great at working through the script with us and took us along the journey.

LBB> Were there any specific inspirations or references from films or other work that you tried to draw on for this spot?

Taylor> There were many references throughout. Thankfully, Maria kept me open to ideas. We sent each other references and shorts – like that beautiful obscured moment you sent me, Maria.

Maria> I can’t remember the exact references, but there were lots of mood pieces. It was about figuring out how to tell a lot of story in 60 seconds from a point-of-view perspective. We looked at how to keep the POV while moving through the day and finding ways to make it cinematic.

Felicity> POV is limiting, so we had to figure out how to cut while keeping the emotional journey intact. We looked at references that were close to the human eye and avoided making it look like a typical sports ad. We wanted it to feel fresh, positive, and unique – not like the familiar territory of women having a harder time than men. Taylor and Maria approached it with a ‘not that’ mindset, which was exciting to watch.

Taylor> I was scared of it looking like a commercial. I wanted it to feel interesting and believable, even without a snorricam. Working with five-year-olds was challenging – they were tired, and I had to get them to stand in a line for the final shot. I pulled inspiration from Nike spots, but I wanted it to feel unique. The final portrait of the girls staring down the barrel worked well.

A few references we came back to were Sala New Fragrance by Tau Lage Yor and Land Rover Rugby World Cup 2019.

Felicity> I have to fan-girl for a second. Taylor’s greatest asset is her intuition and following her gut. That’s why her work feels so different and unique. She took us on this journey with her vision, and it was incredible to see it come to life. Her passion and integrity shine through in the work.

LBB> What was the most memorable or challenging part of this production for you.

Taylor> The portrait scene was challenging. It was raining, and we ended up playing Simon Says with the kids. At one point, I had to tell them, “If you step backwards, you’ll step in water. If you open your mouth, flies will go in.” I had to manipulate them a bit – like when I put my hand on my hip, they copied me. When I pulled the split, they copied that too. It was so difficult, but working with kids is always a challenge.

Maria> I got a real workout that day – it took a few days to recover from all the running around. The sausage sizzle scene was fun. We had a lot of extras, and the world felt genuine. We picked up little moments – girls eating onions, a lady on her phone – and it felt like a little universe we had created.

Felicity> The challenge was managing the creative minds on set. Everyone has their own vision, but this production felt seamless. There was no head-butting over edits, music, or casting. The communication was great, and we’re all really happy with how it came together.

Taylor> I’m sensitive to the idea of being tokenised as a woman filmmaker. It’s exciting to be asked questions as a filmmaker, not just as a woman. But I’m passionate about working with women. On this production, we had 43 crew members – including all HODs in pre and post-production. All our ADs were women, and our unit manager was a woman, which never happens. Let’s not romanticise women making work – let’s just get on with it. They can clearly do it.