A Friend for Christmas

Award-winning director Ben Woolf has helmed Samsung’s 2025 UK Christmas ad - celebrating imagination as a superpower with the touching story of a little girl adjusting to her family’s house move.

The ad, entitled “A Friend for Christmas,” was directed by Woolf via St Mark’s Studios for agency Taylor Herring and is airing online and in cinemas.

It follows Laura, a child struggling to adjust after moving house and leaving her friends behind. She spends her days with imaginary friend Milo, watching neighbourhood children play outside in the snow without her. With help from her Grandad, Laura uses Samsung Galaxy AI’s Drawing Assist to realise a vivid creation, which is then brought to life on Christmas morning.

Ben Woolf explained: “The story was intended to show Samsung tech integrating into real family life. The film stands or falls on building a connection with the hero girl, Laura. The priority from my side was to capture a child's performance that feels real and grounded. Casting kids, particularly for commercials, is always a challenge - you want to balance a feeling of authenticity with clear storytelling to land the beats in the right order.”

He added: “We wanted to make a film that felt emotionally true and showcased the power of AI in a Christmassy setting, demonstrating how AI can fit into a relatable family dynamic, becoming a tool that helps a child's imagination spill into the real world. We aimed for a warm, organic look and feel - keeping the camera language unobtrusive so performance and emotion stayed front and centre. The goal was intimacy and softness, letting the world feel real so that when the AI is introduced, it lands as wonder rather than VFX.”

Samsung backed the ad with research among 2,000 parents that showed that the age of six is when parents believe their child’s imagination is at its most vivid.