Election ads have minuscule budgets. It’s usually quantity over quality. So when the Nats had an idea to make an ad designed to look like a high class mini-series, with two women having a conversation about an ex-lover in a coffee shop, the challenge was the budget. After allowing for the requisite top quality actors there was virtually nothing left for production.
Using a coffee shop beneath our office, we shot on a rainy Saturday morning with a very small crew. The production concept was to let the actors tell the story in a simple, direct way.
The result was an ad that won the highest accolade in international political advertising, the US based Reed award for best foreign political ad. A remarkable result given the budget. And the Nats won the seat with the highest ever swing in a by-election.
