In early September we began to develop a TV advert for Manchester-based boiler company, Heatable. This would be Heatable’s first TV advert, and the Heatable team’s fresh take on the medium could only be a positive for our creative relationship. With their fresh perspective; tired of the every-day, dreary, corporate ads seen on tv for boiler companies, and with then knowledge they have of their customer base, the guys at Heatable formulated an amusing, off-the-wall and memorable concept for their first TVC. This involves stay-at-home dad Gary, who falls fowl to his busy wife’s only demand: that he fixes the boiler. With this task hanging over him, Gary does his best to ignore it. However, it takes objects in his house, such as the fridge magnets, the radio, and a toy robot, to reiterate his wife’s BOILER demand and force Gary into action.This task, which at one point seemed mammoth, with Heatable’s speedy turn around was a piece of cake, and gave Gary his happy ending.
As soon as Matt Page, our producer, saw the script, he “knew straight away who from our roster of Directors would be a great fit” to bring heatable’s charming idea to life. Andy Poyadgi, who has a rich history of comedic TV adverts, has an
“incredible ability to portray humour without the need for much dialogue”
says Matt, who therefore jumped at the chance to get Andy onboard.Heatable’s TVC was an easy yes for Andy as well, saying that the premise
“immediately stood out and made [him] smile – always a good sign when considering a project”.
Now we had a director, we needed to source the hero of our story (or villain from the wife’s perspective). Fortunately Andy knew the perfect man for the job; Martin Collins, whom he had previously worked with on his short film Schizofredric.
Writer and actor Martin Collins has an innately expressive face, giving the audience a window into Gary’s thought processes and therefore becomes instantly relatable; a face and skill that are hard to come by, making Martin a very lucky find for us.
It was also integral to get the look of the advert right. To emulate Gary’s emotions, DoP James Stier did a beautiful job with lighting, creating a cool and dingy environment to first reflect Gary’s broken boiler (and marriage) and ending on a wonderfully warm house thanks to Heatable’s boiler installation. Our Art director Alice Halstead knew it was important that we had easter eggs for the audience to spot after multiple viewings, as well as the required BOILERisms. This involved the her
“partaking in a lot of DIY, getting in touch with her inner 3-year-old and an awful lot of photoshop”.
The guys at heatable witnessed a long day of shooting and their enthusiasm on set was infectious.
“Heatable are an amazing client, and together with Andy, they have made this commercial a great success and hopefully we can revisit the characters for any future campaigns” – Matt Page