Advertising tends to simplify stories. It only has 30, 60 or 90 seconds to tell it. This one, A Life To Build, by BETC doesn’t. It’s poetic and philosophical, a metaphor for what D-I-Y can unlock. The is no doing it yourself seen in the film. Instead, the house in the film grows like a tree, with new branches making room for extensions as the family evolves. Rather than showing off tools and tricks, the film emphasises the emotional link between a house and a home and how building is also about building yourself. D-I-Y retailer and BETC, show that the home you nurture will look after you in return.

And it’s quite a film, with its cinematic quality and remarkable VFX.  The film was directed by Nicolai Fuglsig and produced by Henry/MJZ) directed the ambitious production, Phedon Papamichael (Nebraska, Walk the Line) was the DOP. The set designs were created Christopher Glass (The Jungle Book, Apple Air Pods). The music, Bloodflow, was written  by Grandbrothers.

Olivier Apers, VP executive creative director at BETC, explained, “After making a house sail like a ship on the ocean, we gave ourselves an ambitious new challenge with Leroy Merlin. We wanted to touch on another universal and emotional metaphor. What is more symbolic than a tree to express life and the essential place that our homes take in each of our lives?”

Credits 

Agency: BETC
VP Executive Creative Director: Olivier Apers
Creatives: Moritz Maus & Sebastian Regfeldt
VP brand Director: Jean-Patrick Spitz
Business Director: Sofiane Ouaddah
Account Director: Coline Leroy
Project Manager: Florence Gury
Agency Producer: David Green
Music Creative Director: Christophe Caurret
Traffic: Christine Eon

Production Company: Henry/MJZ
Director: Nicolaï Fuglsig 

Executive Producer: Jean Ozannat
Cinematographer: Phaedon Papamichael
Set Designer: Christopher Glass
UK Producer: Tim Wild
French Producer: Gaelle Delaporte

Editor: Walter Mauriot
Post Production: nineteen twenty
Head of Post Production: Sebastien Gros
VFX Supervisors: Chris King & Bill McNamara
VFX Producer: David Keegan
Head of Sound Production: Christophe Caurret

Record Label: City Slang
Music Artist: Grandbrothers – Bloodflow
Sound Production: GUM
Sound Designer: Anaïs Khout
Sound Producer: Marion Torreilles

Media Agency: Havas Media

Client: Leroy Merlin
Brand Director: Erwan Soquet
Communication Manager: Agathe Ruckebusch
Brand Campaign Project Manager: Maïté Boussemart