CZAR's Koen Mortier Makes An Unlikely Gang 'Run The Village'

CZAR's Koen Mortier Makes An Unlikely Gang 'Run The Village'

A mulleted footballer, a muscular boxer and moustachioed cyclist race through a rural community. No, this isn't the start of a dubious pub joke, but instead the concept behind CZAR director Koen Mortier's wildly comic interactive spot 'Run The Village' for sports betting company Napoleon Games. Following a team of misfits as they battle their way through a calamity-beset course, the online film allows punters to place bets on who will win in order to earn funds for the site.

Mortier, whose work for TNT has been popular both critically and online, imbues the commercial with the same anarchic spirit, having racers taken out of the chase with gruesome hilarity. Supported by a resourceful agency (Duval Guillaume Modem) and a brave client, the result is a re-watchable piece of content for which the interactive element actually aids the viewer's investment.

We spoke to Koen about the shoot, the scrapes and the shocks, as well as his partiality for village-based escapades.

How did you get involved with the 'Run The Village' project?

I did the TNT commercial 'Press To Add Drama' with the same creative team. During that shoot they started to talk about this project.

Was it always intended to be an interactive video?

At the start they wanted to do a film about men running downhill, which was going to be screened somewhere in a city centre so passers-by could vote on the runners. That moment was also going to be shot with a hidden camera. As we had already done two hidden camera films, I suggested that we should do something new - a game-like film on which people could vote live on TV, for example. A couple of months later they came up with the idea of voting interactively.

Where did you shoot the film? How did it go?

We shot the film in Ecaussinnes, which is a small village in the province of Wallonia. It wasn't the easiest shoot, because I had 90 shots in two days, so the tempo and rhythm had to be fast and high. However, I was very lucky with my team and with the persistence of the "sports men".

Did the runners' route have to change at all? Did you hit any problems?

We killed one sequence, so the race was shortened, but for the rest there weren't any major problems.

Who came up with the wacky characters? How were they designed / costumed? Do you have a favourite?

I knew I wanted an eighties football player with a mullet, because this look is one of my favourite childhood memories and the "nerdy" cyclist was something I thought could be funny. I also wanted a strong, African boxer, because the memorable fights between Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier/George Foreman are part of my youth. When those three characters were finalised, the others came to mind quickly. The football player is my favourite.

Every player needed his own style and colour, so the stylist Ann Lauwerys and I started to play around a bit and we developed the main style. It had to be "cool", but also nostalgic and at the same time believable in this day and age. Personally, I think new sports clothing is ugly and tasteless, so I wanted to avoid that.

Some of the hazards are pretty gruesome. Did you feel like you were pushing it a bit? Did the clients need convincing?

It was all based on absurd humour and when we discussed it with the clients they only wanted us to help the stupid humour come across. As long as we didn't create a bloodbath, it didn't really matter.

When you create an interactive spot like this, what are the hurdles you come across?

The biggest hurdle is money, I guess, because you want the project to be seen everywhere and my first idea was to make a YouTube page as base for the betting site, so people didn't have to search for it too much. For some reason the client thought it was too expensive and I still believe that this was a bad choice. The project would have been an incredible hit and it could have worked perfectly that way. Clients tend to forget how expensive buying TV space is, nowadays everyone wants something cheap and hopes to make an internet hit, but I believe that if you want to succeed you need to invest in the different possibilities anyway. Especially if you want to "score".

I also believe that storytelling is one of the most important assets for creating something original, special and attractive to the audience. People don't like watching commercials these days and when they run into one on the net, they skip it with one click. Therefore we need to get them interested in ideas and stories and that's where interesting directors/writers come in. I believe sincerely in the possibilities of launching a brand out of the blue as long you back it up with the right story for that brand.

The third element is the digital companies in-between. Like any creative company they want to add their creative skills to the project, but mostly they have to be satisfied with adding their technical skills to it. In this case the creative team and I knew exactly what we wanted and the goal was that the digital company accomplished exactly what we had in mind. I do believe that the dialogue between the director (if the storytelling is important) and the digital company is pivotal for the near future. This is why the Czar & Bacon groups created a joint venture and started a interactive company (Bacon De Czar). This means storytelling skills and technical skills are bundled together forming a stronger force and all heads are pointing in the same direction.

With work like this and the TNT films, you're on the cutting edge of interactive/involving/experiential campaigns. Do you feel like you're game-changing when you're working on them or is your focus to create the most engaging experience possible, regardless of setting?

My goal is to look at commercials with an open and evolving mind. I've always been looking out for the next step. Nothing is as boring as repeating yourself over and over, so my way of looking at it keeps me awake.

What's up next?

At the moment I'm writing my third feature film, which is going to be my first film in English. It's called "Haunted" and is based on a book by Chuck Palahniuk.

Posted on 7th June 2013