There’s no relationship quite like that between an eldest daughter and her mother. It’s a dynamic wherein tender moments of love so often intertwine with raised voices, and doors slamming. In Nicole Ackermann’s director’s cut of Milka’s emotive Easter campaign ‘Mum’s Secret Helper’, she celebrates that relationship by putting it on full display.
A cinematic portrayal of the link between mothers and daughters, the spot explores the family dynamics between a mother, her teenage daughter, and younger sister. Wanting to keep the seasonal magic alive whilst struggling to connect with her eldest child, the ad shows how distances can be overcome, and how with a knowing smile and subtly raised eyebrow, those arguments that seemed so important are quickly forgotten.
Filmed in just two days, and forgoing the expectations of a traditional Easter campaign (so long bunnies, chicks and lambs), Nicole Ackermann crafted an ode to motherhood, family, and connection, which puts family first and melts chocolate on the backburner.
To find out more, LBB sat down with Nicole to unwrap the details of her latest work.
LBB> The campaign isn’t your typical Easter bunny-filled seasonal spot. Tell us about your creative decision-making, and why you chose to tell the story in this way?
Nicole> When I saw the script, I immediately connected to the mother/daughter narrative. I felt that the miscommunication in their relationship was honest and brave for Milka, and I wanted to do justice to that.
I have a close relationship with my mother, but it has not always been smooth sailing. There were times when we deeply wanted to connect, but there were so many walls between us it was complicated. Taking this emotional authenticity, I centred the storytelling around the emotion in each scene.
LBB> The ad portrays the highs and lows of familial relationships and single parenthood. How did you navigate representing the difficult days alongside the happier ones on screen?
Nicole> I knew going in that this piece would live and die in the performances, so in our actor workshop sessions we spent a lot of time doing memory recall and bringing personal layers to each scene, especially on the difficult days. I also strongly believe that the more we felt the strain on the difficult days, the sweeter the connection would be at the end.
LBB> Authentic casting is key in a campaign like this, what were you looking for when casting for this spot?
Nicole> For the mother and daughter, I was looking for emotionally mature actors who could bring complex emotions in just one look and then deliver a subtle range. I knew immediately when I saw Ailbhe’s (the teenage daughter) first casting tape that she was special. It’s rare to see that level of restraint in a young girl.
LBB> Your use of colour is really interesting, as the environment changes from dark and uninspired to brimming with life, colour, and energy as the Easter egg hunt begins. How did you achieve this?
Nicole> My DP, Khalid Mohatseb, and I spent a day in the house location moving through the space and allowing the natural light in each room to inform the lighting and composition for each scene. It was such a beautiful process, in a way it felt like we were living in the family home and allowing the house to tell the story to us. That house location was so cinematic and inspiring that we even wrote in more scenes.
LBB> When it came to the tone and feel of the ad, where did you look for inspiration?
Nicole> Khalid and I both came in with some ideas from our favourite commercials, but the key influence was photography. Our rule was that each frame was a photograph, and the entire scene had to be able to live in one restricted visual. Khalid is first and foremost an extremely talented photographer, so the language was second nature to him. The camera was only allowed to move at the Easter egg hunt at the very end.
LBB> Did you face any interesting challenges during production? If so, how did you overcome them?
Nicole> Time! We shot the entire spot in two days. We were so inspired by the location and the performances we came in with a very ambitious shot list. But we shot with two cameras. Myron Mance on the second camera was a great team player and we either shot two scenes at the same time, or rolled with two cameras at the same time.
LBB> Finally, is there anything that you’d do differently if you had your time again?
Nicole> If I had my time again I would have had more prep time on location. Khalid and I are great at carefully planning and then tearing up the plan by responding to what is alive and beautiful in front of us.
