Marketers continue to expand their use of brand films (produced primarily for online, social, and out of home viewing), taking advantage of the genre’s freedom of format and style and often blurring the line between art and message.

These seven films were published in The Stash Permanent Collection during 2023 and are listed here in chronological order by their issue of publication.
 
 
ESPN “NBA CHANNEL REBRAND” (above)
Issue: Stash 157

William Mercer, CD at FutureDeluxe in London: “ESPN approached us to work closely with them on their NBA Channel rebrand. From the start it was a very collaborative approach. We set out to explore and experiment as much as we could visually and conceptually before focusing on some core themes that we wanted to push creatively and which aligned with what the internal ESPN teams were doing.

“We were tasked to create a brand film that showcased the hero logo across a multitude of creative treatments, and an Anthem film that gave them more editorial packaging elements. ESPN would then take these films and develop them to create the full channel package. We also provided a toolkit of After Effects projects of various shots which gave them the ability to change colors, swap out team logos, and edit type.”
 
 
 

MONCLER “GENIUS”
Issue: Stash 159

Director Rimantas Lukavicius at Korb in Vilnius, Lithuania: “This video was created to tease the Moncler Genius fashion show at London Fashion Week 2023. Each box represents a participating designer who collaborated with Moncler: (in order of appearance): Mercedes Benz, Adidas, Salehe Bembury, Pharrell Williams, Palm Angels, FRGMT, Roc Nation, Alicia Keys, and Rick Owens.

“The biggest challenges were the cloth and physical simulations, rendering optimization, and, as always, the short production schedule. Nevertheless, even though we were short on time, each video had to be approved by all sides, the agency, the designer, and Moncler itself.”
 
 
 

 
AIRPORT LOUNGE SCREEN CONTENT
Issue: Stash 159

Max Chelyadnikov, CD and CG supervisor at LOOP in Dubai: “The goal was to compliment the space of a newly built airport with video content that would also illustrate the main features of the region. The creative challenge was to make a design-driven story visually connected to the architecture of the building – a continuation of the structure onto the screen.

“The main challenges were to do with the massive 12k+ resolution and the need to entertain people in the lounge for as long as possible, so we came up with a flexible structure of loops and transitions, all 12 scenes being about 12+ minutes long but potentially stretching to infinity.”
 
 
 

BMW “BAVA NEXT”
Issue: Stash 159

Xiao Xiao, EP at Visual Signal Tao and Ollie Studio in Beijing, China: “This project is part of BMW China’s long-running mascot campaign for Bava the designer toy bear who has been named as the chief entertainment officer of BMW in China. Our main challenge in this project is how to apply a good story framework to show Bava’s various styles and images.

Bava, as a new species, should have a highly innovative and interesting audiovisual transformation process. Therefore, we used the concept of metaverse, which was popular last year, to allow Bava to travel through multiple dimensions, where each universe represents a different visual style to match Bava’s new forms.”
 
 
 

“PITCHES ARE DEAD!”
Issue: Stash 159

Marcel Ziul, founder/ECD at State in Los Angeles: “Our ‘Pitches are DEAD’ series features projects so good, they got rejected. It’s a special collection made by State to encourage people to not be scared of failing. I designed and animated this film on the flight from LAX to Tel Aviv because I wanted to share it at OFFF Tel Aviv.

“The creative challenge was having to choose between the cheesiest excuses our pitches got rejected for. We know that rejection is just a part of the game. That’s why we never give up on our creative vision, even when our projects don’t make the cut. Instead, we turn those rejected babies into something even more badass.”
 
 
 

LACOSTE IMMERSIVE “TENNIS”, “GOLF”
Issue: Stash 160

Trajectoire Studio and CD/motion designer Michel Naufal create a pair of stylish brand films as part of a dedicated immersive experience space in the Lacoste flagship store on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.

Michel Naufal, director and motion designer in Paris: “The principle of this installation is a cube made of mirrors reflecting the video from everywhere and leaving the spectator in complete immersion. We had a lot of freedom about what we proposed for this project. So from the beginning, we tended to discuss the feelings we were searching for to create the most immersive experience we can offer to customers.”
 
 
 

VISUALIZING AI “ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY”, “LEARNING”
Issue: Stash 162

Martina Stiftinger, visual artist/director in Engerwitzdorf, Austria: “Google DeepMind commissioned a diverse range of artists to collaborate on ‘Visualising AI’ – an initiative to develop imagery around the key themes of artificial intelligence as part of an open source library.

“Each artist has been assigned a different set of themes, covering a wide range of topics like assistive AI, sustainability, responsible AI, and form factors. My part is based on concepts derived from the field of assistive AI. It has been a delight to create two motion pieces that visualize the potential of AI as assistive technology and AI-supported learning.”
 
 
Watch all the Best of Stash 2023 Collections.