BLOCK — Bitcoin Day

Three spots, three weeks to production and a week later to deliver in time for Bitcoin Day.

Ring Ring

The phone call came from Superficial Studios with the kind of timeline that makes a producer either laugh or pour a drink.

BLOCK, who owns Bitkey, Cash App, and Square, wanted to run a campaign in the US on Bitcoin Day for all three. The job entailed all of production which included; finding the cast of models and actors with accents needing to be American, the right studio with availability, building sets, assembling a full crew of professionals, and working across time zones with a US-based client in three weeks, plus the full post in a week after that.

Of course we said yes. The challenge was half the fun.

The Idea

Superficial (Belinda Chen and Andrew Kupresanin) are old creative friends of ours who work mostly in digital art and design.

They'd landed the campaign with a wild creative direction the client loved but sat on approvals - because… life! Hey, things happen and take time, so we just make magic happen for them when they're ready - and so when it finally came through they needed a production partner on the ground in Melbourne to bring it to life. Filming, casting, on-set direction, post, the lot. Can it be done? They asked. YES IT CAAAANNNNNN!

The vision sat somewhere within the meme-aware tongue-in-cheek culture of Bitcoin itself. The internet's relationship with Bitcoin is half-serious, half-ironic, half-sincere, and that's already three halves, which is the point. Specific. The spots had to feel native to that energy. Practical lighting effects, built sets, over the top performances and a light graphic layer over the top to nod at the scene.

Our job was producing, running the shoot, then carrying most of post once filming wrapped. Superficial led direction overall, client liaison, and handled the graphics that give the spots their flavour, while we managed the production end and the picture cut.

The Job

A few things shaped how this one ran. The cast had to have a US accent, so finding the right talent in Melbourne mattered. The client was running on a US schedule, which meant feedback windows and approvals had to flex around time-zone gaps.

Andddd, to nail the unique visual direction from storyboards to reality meant constant refinement, testing, discussions, slight changes in direction, set builds… all this gets done with a great team and people willing to push ideas further.

Which is why the other half of the fun here is getting to work with great people.

The Game

Filmmaking is a team sport and it's more fun when played that way. The outcomes are better too when the people in the room have taste and stamina in roughly equal measure.

The BLOCK Bitcoin Day spots gave us a room full of that, on a deadline that made every choice count. Three spots, in three weeks and a Bitcoin Day. We got there, and we had a genuinely good time doing it.

Credits

Client: Block (Bitkey, Cash App, Square)

Client Team: Creative Direction and Strategy: Kyle Fletcher, Armani Cotton. Head of Marketing: Maria Pesce. Creative Production Lead: Marquia Walton.

Creative Direction: Superficial Studios — Andrew Kupresanin & Belinda Chen

Producer: Round 3. DoP: Richard Kendal. 1st AC: Austin Haigh. Gaffer/Grip: Ryan Fish. Lighting Assist: Brendan Hession. Grip Assist: Adam Vitolins. Sound Recordist: Ed Denton, Moose Audio. Production Design: Bianca Milani, Jake Feast. Styling: Jam Baylon. Styling Assist: Stephanie Reid. HMU: Kat Bardsley. Casting: Lucie McMahon, Sam Soh. Studio: Kasabi Studios.

Bitkey featuring: Jerome (People Agency) and Jeffery Richards. Square featuring: Nicole Damaso and Kufre Etim. Cash App featuring: Carly Wilding, Clarke Parkinson.

Editing: Round 3. VFX: Superficial. Music: Millie Gibson, Pathologic, Mikiya Ito, Mohan. Sound Design: Adam Asnan. Sound Mix: Round 3.