“Enjoy the Bench, Bitch!”: Inside the Sassy Surrealism of KOTN’s Whimsical Campaign

In the dusty and humid Cairo air, a ragtag football team has assembled. Local tradesmen have joined forces with residents, foul-mouthed children, and a shockingly agile grandmother to form a kind of slapstick Avengers of soccer talent, about to test itself under the glare of the Egyptian sun. 

It’s an off-the-wall setup for an ad, and this effort from director Glenn Michael works a charm for fashion brand KOTN. Supporting its fall and winter collections, the premise makes use of the brand’s connections to Egypt (its clothing is designed in Canada and made along the Nile Delta). A combination of a memorable setting, some off-the-script riffing from comedic acting talent, and a particularly obnoxious young boy makes for a film with personality to spare. 

To go behind the scenes of the ad - and why the sweltering heat of Cairo was the perfect place from which to launch KOTN’s fall and winter collections - LBB’s Adam Bennett caught up with Glenn Michael. 

LBB> Glenn – to start at the beginning, where did the initial idea or vision for this ad come from? 

Glenn> The team at Bynk had top-line ideas and a few marks that they wanted to hit. They wanted it to revolve around soccer, and to be campy, surreal, and witty, while also feeling high fashion in its styling.

It wasn’t your typical commercial agency process, so I approached it a little differently. There was a lot of freedom. I never made a treatment as I ordinarily would, but instead I took a lot of their notes and ideas and packaged them in a way that can be made into a branded content piece or even a very short film. Then, along with our co-writer Paula Wilson, I wrote a screenplay.

I wanted to see what it’d be like approaching this project like a short rather than an ad.

LBB> And to what extent does that early vision align with the finished film? 

Glenn> Aside from some encouraged riffing and improv from the actors, and some scene-shifting in the edit, the director’s cut is pretty close to how the script was written and how I envisioned everything coming together. 

LBB> It feels like Wes Anderson might have been a key inspiration – is that intentional?

Glenn> I mean, yes and no. Wes Anderson was definitely mentioned in the agency deck, but I personally try to avoid delving too deep into that world, if not entirely. But, I do think that a director like Wes Anderson has developed such a strong aesthetic and language that anytime certain techniques and camera moves are paired with certain tones, they automatically relate back to his work. I actually find that fascinating.  

LBB> To quote the final line, “it’s so hot”. I felt like I needed a glass of water after watching the ad. What’s the secret behind capturing that sense of dry heat on a film like this?  

Glenn> Ok great. That’s good to hear. I was afraid that the film wasn’t actually capturing how fucking hot it was on the shoot day. On top of the 43 degree weather, the actors were under the blazing sun, rocking three layers from a FALLLL and WINTERRRRR collection. They were amazing sports about it, though.

I wanted to make sure that if the sweltering environment wasn’t translating onto screen, that I'd use the dialogue to enforce how hot it was, just in case. 

Our DP James Arthurs, against many other DPs’ advice, decided to use large nets rather than full diffusion so that we can maintain the hard shadows on our characters while not losing the intensity of the sun -- we wanted to make sure our cast could keep their eyes open, whilst keeping the sun hard. Amazing call on his part. It really worked out. 

LBB> How about the location – where did you film it, and what made it the right spot for the shoot? 

Glenn> We shot it in Cairo. The brand KOTN is partly based there, and sources their fabrics from Egypt so the alignment to shoot the campaign there felt very natural. Egyptian culture is very prominent in the brand's story, so using a mostly Arab cast, Egyptian extras, Egyptian film crew, and obviously the Cairo scenery, naturally gave the film a free forming layer of authenticity that didn't need to be forced. 

Specifically, we shot at the back of the Citadel of Saladin, which just so happens to have two soccer goals posted up. We saw a couple locations but this one particularly offered the most of what we were trying to shoot. A huge selling point was that it was in such an open space on high ground that, shooting from 7am to 7pm we didn't really have to worry about shadows from buildings, enclosures, or fences creeping into our shots. 

LBB> We have to ask about casting, especially the foul-mouthed boy! When did you know that he was going to be such a great fit? 

Glenn> I actually wasn’t sure how receptive the agency or client was going to be with a kid cursing in their spot, but they were super down. When we wrote the ‘beef’ between the kid and Dave Merheje, I knew I wanted to cast the most obnoxious little shit I could find. I picked him from a package of casting photos because he reminded me of my younger brother when he was a kid. He’s actually the sweetest kid in real life, and just knew how to embody that roll perfectly. 

In terms of casting, I typically search for the most oddball characters I can find. Casting in Cairo was super fun because even though I gravitate to the most ridiculous version of a character, having the added Arab and Egyptian surface brought all the characters together so easily in a way that I always aim for, and sometimes miss.

LBB> And beyond that one character, was there a particular vibe you were looking for throughout the cast? Every character feels very defined and full of personality. 

Glenn> Thanks. Writing characters has always been an interest of mine. I had this incredible ensemble of actors and comedians that I was fortunate to work with on this, and I really wanted to utilise that. I wanted each of the five lead cast members to have very distinct and even opposing personalities. While writing the script I wrote brief character descriptions for each person which really helped inform me and my co-writer, Paula, of how dialogue would be formed or delivered. 

LBB> Finally, what was the biggest challenge you encountered putting the ad together, and how did you overcome it? 

Glenn> The biggest challenge on this was that I was pretty nervous working with this many actors at a time, some of whom have been in some major TV and film. But over the last couple years, working with narrative and directing actors has been a massive intention and motivation for me. When I got overwhelmed, I had to take a few moments and remind myself that this is what I’ve been asking for. 

I learned a lot on this one that I’ll be taking into the next.