Kode and MullenLowe Continue Covid-19 Crisis Spots with Chancellor Rishi Sunak

Kode's Jack Goodwin explains how the team is helping to keep Government tv spots hitting screens across the UK. 

Much like our two previous Covid-19 shoots for the Government, the brief came to us last-minute and there were plenty of twists and turns along the way. This time a new location, new talent and new crew. You can watch the new ad here.​

The job came to us at the same time Chris Whitty had been reported as going into isolation, after showing symptoms. Seeing as we’d been on set with Chris the week before we checked in with all the crew, and while they had no symptoms and felt well, we thought it appropriate to swap out the entire crew for everyone’s safety. 

With the most recent government advice to stay safe and some understandable concern given both Chris Whitty and Boris Johnson were in isolation at the time of prep, this shoot came with heightened health and safety measures. Matt Fleming, who is also a partner and Exec Producer at Kode, took on-set producing duties this time and together we worked closely with the agency and client to ensure we took all precautions to stay safe on-set. 

We worked in a very small crew once again. Our sound operator stood at a safe distance and instructed Rishi on how to put his mic on himself. Our makeup artist used new and clean brushes and wore gloves and a mask while applying the minimal amount of make-up needed. Plus we had hand washing facilities and hand sanitiser on set and we worked in an open space to allow for as much distance between the crew as possible.

Beyond the on-set safety precautions, the shoot was like any other last-minute shoot. Our shoot date moved four times, as did our recce. So much so, that Matt and the crew eventually recced a few spaces at The Treasury on the morning of the shoot, and then with a rather speedy 45-mins of setup time, were sat filming with Rishi. Upon wrap we couriered the drive to the editor and MullenLowe and all the brilliant edit and post team had it on TV a couple of days later. 

It’s been a fascinating experience so far, being at the heart of it all in Westminster, involved in some of the key communication during this crisis. At Kode we always focus on how important collaboration is, but this pandemic has encouraged a whole new level of collaboration and communication within our business and with the agencies, clients and crews we’re fortunate to work with. As an industry we’re used to last minute briefs and goal posts moving, we’re also used to luxuries which quite often we just don’t need. That can be said beyond our industry too. I hope that when we come out of this we all bring with us the value of what is and isn’t important and that we continue to collaborate in new ways through regular and open communication.