HGTV recently tapped L.A.-based design and live-action production studio BRKLY to create promo materials for the second season of the network’s popular sibling rivalry series Brother vs. Brother.
“For season two of Brother Vs. Brother our aim was to step up the promotion to action movie proportions,” explained Todd Troop, creative director, brand design, HGTV.
BRKLY founder Neil Berkeley tapped action director John Bonito as a key collaborator. The two carefully designed the highly choreographed sequences surrounding the competition narrative and assembled a team of feature film stunt crew, known for their work on Marvel films, to work with the show’s competitive hosts – twins Jonathan Scott and Drew Scott, aka the Property Brothers.
“Our starting point to any project is to understand who it needs to reach and how best to emotionally connect with audiences,” said Berkeley. “With this promo, we all wanted to marshal the Property Brothers’ athleticism. We also wanted to authentically capture their friendly rivalry and incredible rapport. With John on board, Chris, Todd and I could focus on that story while John directed the high-intensity action.”
“Most people imagine they are able to do stunts. The Property Brothers really can,” said Bonito. “They were 100 percent committed to doing anything we asked and matched that willingness with ability, work ethic and a warm demeanor.”
The shoot involved a walk-through of every second of action, followed by two days of filming in a giant warehouse in downtown Los Angeles.
“We’ve worked with BRKLY many times, and Neil is a true filmmaker who knows how to make any project cinematic,” said Chris Martin, creative director, promotion, HGTV., “Plus, he promised to keep the Brothers safe while they performed the action and high-flying stunts. So that was the closer.”
BRKLY also shot and delivered extensive behind-the-scenes media and still photography to be used in digital campaigns, part of the studios deep offerings. Berkeley explained that “We know our clients have to interface with a wide variety of departments, each with distinct content needs. So with every promo campaign we deliver hours of additional content from stills to motion media so they have creative for all channels.”
