Opening a portal of playfulness

Dutch candy brand Look-O-Look gets the HOBBY treatment as Director Magnus Renfors summons a surreal dimension to the daily grind of office life.

When a magic portal opens in their office, a group of intrigued co-workers find their day - and themselves - delightfully transformed. "Life is serious enough. With Look-O-Look we want to create surprising, exciting, and bold candy experiences,” said Joris Bellemakers, Senior Creative Copywriter at Dutch creative agency Selmore. “Awaken your senses, spark your imagination, and… Go all out!"

The reality-bending brief was perfectly pitched to catch the attention of director Renfors. “Look-O-Look has always leant into the zaniness with its commercials,” said HOBBY EP John Gerard. “Right away we knew this super fun idea was going to be the perfect fit for Magnus’s uniquely eccentric eye.”

Along with monster truck-wheeled roller skates and a disco ball-head for the boss, the portal transforms one worker’s hand into a puppet of himself. That puppet then brandishes its own mini puppets. “We like to keep things fun at HOBBY and there was even more puppet action behind the camera when we presented Magnus with his very own puppet doppelganger, wearing a little Metallica T-shirt.” Said Gerard.

“That was so sweet!” Said Renfors. “For my kids, having a puppet made of me is as impressive as it gets! Although I was in camp Guns n’ Roses in the ‘90s - but that logo wouldn’t have been as cool!”

The one day shoot was originally scheduled for Tbilisi, Georgia but the local political situation necessitated a last minute change of plan. “Big shout out to our service company 23/32 for helping us to pivot so smoothly to Sofia, Bulgaria,” said Gerard.

Several of the creative team, including set designer, prop makers and cinematographer, as well as the production leads, were Ukrainian. “There are so many film talents in exile after the attack on their free country,” said Renfors. “They are normally such a strong part of the European film production community. Even if this collaboration was a tiny support for the Ukrainians, it’s important to make sure our solidarity remains with them as long as it takes."

It was the first time in Bulgaria for both Renfors and the creatives at Selmore. “It’s an awesome place to shoot and we all developed a love for the local banitsa (not to mention the local wine) after we’d wrapped.” said Gerard.