Truth, Depth, and Heart: How Andrew Litten Made Impossible Choices Feel like a Film

The premise is brutally simple: What if your basic needs forced you into impossible decisions? Feed yourself or feed your child? Buy dinner or buy medicine? For many, these choices aren’t hypothetical. They are a daily reality to many Canadians. 

A message like this needed to hit harder. It had to be a film that pulled people into the weight of these choices, to make them feel the hesitation, the quiet desperation, the split-second calculations of survival. 

When Dear Friend sent the brief to director Andrew Litten, he didn’t just read it, he felt it. Rather than waiting for the usual back and forth of a director search, Litten took matters into his own hands, crafting a mini treatment on instinct. 

Well. It worked. A week later Dear Friend and Andrew briefed with the creative team at Grey – ECD Sebastian Benitez, CD Tomas Soares, Copywriter Jamie Spears, and Producer Deena Archibald 

The team initially envisioned the spot as a first-person POV experience. But Andrew saw a different opportunity. 

“To me, the POV approach didn’t allow you to meet the characters with the intimacy needed to feel the weight of these impossible choices on display. It was imperative that we view the choices through the emotions of the characters, rather than their actions.” 

This shift inspired a new visual language - Andrew took inspiration from photographer Eugene Richards and Trent Parke, whose work captures stark, emotional realism. They also referenced the intimate, observational style of The Dardenne Brothers, crafting a visual language that felt like an urgent slice of reality.

Once the project was awarded, the real work began. Filming six locations in just two days required serious logistical strategy. The solution? Minimize movement. Every location was within the same block, allowing for more time behind the camera and less on a company move. But this wasn’t just another gig, it was a project that everyone felt personally invested in. Every department pushed harder, not because they had to, but because they wanted to. They believed in what they were making. 

Dialla and her art team transformed vacant spaces into fully realized apartments, built all the signage and made Christmas a reality in the middle of summer. 

Executive producer Trevor Lang commented: 

“Another crucial decision was to invest in having Andrew Litten personally scout locations instead of relying solely on file pulls images. We brought him out super early, and he was able to walk through the spaces and absorb their textures and helped shape the final film in ways that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. We used these scouts to create a hybrid of storyboards + photo boards to map out the story.”

After 2 nights of shooting, the team wrapped, on time and footage was shipped to HOUSE post. Brought in early, they were more than just a full suite post house - they were storytelling partners, shaping the film’s rhythm and flow from the start. 

On what made this project unique, Trevor Lang added: 

“I think it proves that advertising doesn’t have to be loud to be heard. It reminds us that storytelling, when done right, has the power to shift perspectives. The question now is how do we make more work like this? The Canadian industry has the right creative talent, but we need to continue pushing for stories that matter. The kind that doesn't just sell but stirs into something deeper. Our whole team at Dear Friend were all so happy to be apart of it”