72andSunny's Flying Google Story

Backyard director Greg Kohs delivers his unique brand of soulful "captured not contrived" filmmaking to the new impassioned Google Stories film “Laurent Aigon: l'autre façon de voler” or “Laurent” out of 72andSunny/Amsterdam. The 3:15 film tells the genuine story of a man who rediscovers his childhood obsession of flight by engineering his own fully functioning flight simulator. The short is the second of a series of Google Stories that Kohs has completed, including a previous short, “Perfection,” that authentically follows a quirky yet beloved high school music teacher on his journey to win a million dollars by playing a video game.

 

Kohs dove into the collaborative creative process from the ground floor, teaming up with the Google and 72andSunny creatives to uncover the most personal and honest moments of this man’s tale. Once in France with the creative team, Kohs connected with the film’s subject and began to foster a relaxed, natural relationship. During filming, Kohs and the team crafted an artful, unvarnished approach to visually illustrate the film’s compelling arc and how this man’s story would be told.

Notes Kohs, “I love making soulful films like these. As a storyteller, it was awesome to collaborate with such a smart creative team to tell Laurent’s captivating story. Being involved from the ground floor with the creatives enabled me to artfully capture the passion of Laurent’s story in a fashion I’m extremely proud of.”

A waiter by trade and an avid surfer, “Laurent” features a persistent French man whose lack of focus prevented him from realizing his childhood dream of becoming a pilot.  Intent on reclaiming his love of flying, Laurent is inspired to build his own flight simulator. Using Google search, he scours the Internet for all of the parts necessary to build a fully operative machine, obtaining specific pieces from all over the world. The resulting masterpiece is built in his daughter's bedroom, and is professional grade.  Laurent finds satisfaction not only in its completion, but also in sharing his passion with his family, friends and community.

Credits 

Client: Google

Executive Creative Director Creative Lab, Google EMEA: Steve Vranakis
Executive Creative Director Creative Lab, Google US: Kevin Proudfoot

Title: “Laurent Aigon: l'autre façon de voler” 3:15

Agency: 72andSunny/Amsterdam

Executive Creative Director: Carlo Cavallone

Writer: Yann Corlay

Brand Director: Mike Goller

Producer: Stephanie Oakley

Creative Director: Josh Rosen

Head of Operations: Clare Donald

Production Company: Backyard

Director: Greg Kohs

Line Producer US: Karen Chen

Line Producer FR: Michel Moniot

Director of Photography: Greg Kohs

President/Partner: Blair Stribley

Managing Director/Partner: Chris Zander

VP/Executive Producer: Kris Mathur

Head of Production: Emily Malito

Editor: Xavier Perkins