OTO Film: “It Is Essential for Us to Support Ideas and Values We Strongly Believe in”
In its purest form, advertising is a method of communication that can be used to draw attention to important social issues. For OTO Film, working on campaigns with strong social messages goes beyond the work itself and speaks to the company’s core beliefs about making a positive impact with their productions. “It is essential for us to support ideas and values in which we strongly believe. Creative and financial involvement in social projects has been a part of the OTO Film DNA for many years,” says Tomek Kozera, head of production and EP for OTO Film.
The company has a long-standing partnership with the Women's Rights Centre and the Biedronka Foundation, working collaboratively to create eye-catching spots with messages that resonate. “Both organisations support various initiatives as part of their statutory activities. Together with the boards of these NGOs, we select projects that we can co-create. Moreover, these campaigns need to illustrate everyday problems of our society or have an awareness goal, such as our latest campaign for the Women's Rights Centre on EU directives regarding work-life balance,” he explains.
Working on these campaigns isn’t without its challenges, with Tomek highlighting that, “A big challenge of working on social projects is bringing together creative ambitions and the financial part of it. Most of the social projects that we co-create are co-financed by us.” Even so, OTO Film continues to stand behind the issues it believes in most, doing so with creativity and a sensitive eye.
OTO Film is carrying on its relationship with the Women’s Rights Centre, having recently produced a powerful spot on the theme of femicide. They also worked on their ‘Equal Rights’ talk show, which Tomek came up with the idea for together with the Dziadek do Orzechow advertising agency; it looks at the issue of work-life balance challenges faced by working parents and carers and presents them in a fresh, engaging way. Finally, OTO Film worked on the deeply moving film, Objects/They Were Just Like Us, for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz.
Below, LBB speaks to Tomek about the recent projects with a social message that OTO Film produced, how they approached each one with sensitivity, and why they’re proud of creating work around such important issues.
Women’s Rights Centre - Stop Femicide
LBB> What was the brief on this highly sensitive and emotional project?
Tomek> In August 2020, in Hungary, while I was shooting a campaign for the LECH beer brand, Monika Młynarczyk from the Women's Rights Centre called me to ask if OTO Film would like to help them produce their new campaign. We didn't know each other before, and despite the lack of details about the project, I knew that it was something that I absolutely must do and OTO Film should be a part of this project.
LBB> How did OTO help to bring the spot to life? What was your approach?
Tomek> From the beginning, I knew that a woman director should handle this project and that we needed a strong creative leader. It was very important for me to find the appropriate and expressive film language for the very difficult topic of femicide. I decided to entrust the project with the highly respected theatre director Monika Strzępka, who uses various forms of expression as part of her creative work and has a sensational TV series, “The Artists”. It didn't take long to convince her. She agreed right away and, as I expected, she made a revolution with the original script.
LBB> Did you run into any difficulties while creating the spot and how did you overcome them?
Tomek> The most challenging thing was gathering at one place and at the same time all the actors and actresses who agreed to support the project. Another issue was a wave of covid-19 that was raging at that time. But this particular aspect was well-mastered thanks to a very tight anti-covid-19 protocol we had already implemented in the first weeks of the pandemic.
LBB> What’s the most rewarding part of working on this spot?
Tomek> The most important thing for me is that we raised public awareness about the issue of femicide and that the word itself has become a permanent part of public discourse. Many people understand now that this is a problem that exists in Poland.
Talk Show – Equal Rights (Women’s Rights Centre)
LBB> You’re continuing your collaboration with the Women’s Rights Centre – why do you think they came back to you for this project?
Tomek> We have been in touch with the Women's Rights Centre since 2020 and discussed most of their campaigns. I think the time and topic were right. Sometimes you just know and need to believe your instinct.
LBB> Who came up with the idea for a talk show and why did this feel like the right approach to shine a light on the issue of equality in parenting?
Tomek> This time, the main creative idea and the talk show approach came from me. I didn't want to make another boring story about parents, kids, and life. I wanted to show the absurdities of life perversely and seriously. Together with the Dziadek do Orzechow advertising agency, we shaped this idea.
LBB> What was your brief - how did OTO help to bring the spot to life? What was your approach?
Tomek> The most time-consuming part of the process was preparing the script. On the one hand, it had to contain understandable elements of the idea we are discussing in the campaign. On the other hand, we needed good dialogues between the host and guests, showing the absurdity of the reversed world. On the third hand, it all had to be shown in seven minutes. The work lasted nearly three weeks, and many versions were created.
LBB> Did you run into any difficulties while creating the spot and how did you overcome them?
Tomek> I knew our talk show needed a recognisable TV presenter. The choice was simple - Hubert Urbański, who has been running the tv show Milionerzy for over two decades. Hubert agreed, but he also had a few suggestions that turned out to be very valuable.
LBB> What’s the most rewarding part of working on this spot?
Tomek> I believe that trust and partnership with the Women's Right Centre we have been building since 2020 is the best reward.
Objects/They were just like us
LBB> What was your brief for this powerful and emotional spot?
Tomek> Co-creating the film for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz was a great honour for OTO Film. From the beginning, the OTO Film team working on this project knew we had a challenging task.
LBB> How did OTO help to bring the spot to life? What was your approach?
Tomek> The most important thing was finding the right director - someone who pays attention to tiny details and will create a masterpiece. Tadeusz Śliwa, the director who took up this challenge, made a lyrical and beautiful film.
LBB> Did you run into any difficulties while creating the spot and how did you overcome them?
Tomek> I think that everyone working on this project had to deal with the complex history of World War II and all the cruelty that this time recorded in the history of our country and the whole world. Nevertheless, everyone got very much involved in the entire process, which is one of the reasons this movie is so touching.
LBB> What’s the most rewarding part of working on this film?
Tomek> The trust that The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Foundation placed in OTO Film and the possibility of co-creating such an important project was a sufficient distinction for us.
