My Favourite Bart Timmer Commercials
This is another in the globally popular ACES series of featuring commercial filmmakers and directors that I admire for their skills in bringing creative concepts, and storylines to enthralling life.
Bart Timmer
After graduating from the Film Academy in The Netherlands, Bart worked as a production assistant before venturing into filmmaking and directing commercials.
Known for his storytelling expertise, careful attention to detail, timing, and great use of filmic humour, Bart Timmer has become one of the advertising industry’s most sought after film directors.
1. Aldi Süd, Spacestation
Advertising Agency: Oliver Voss Werbeagentur, Hamburg, Germany
Production Company: Czar, Hamburg, Germany
Post Production and VFX Studios: Bacon X, Hamburg, Germany
The Oliver Voss Agency’s creative team’s inspired Aldi Süd scenario, elevates supermarket genre advertising to uniquely inventive ‘new heights’.
When the Houston Space Centre receives a message, that a group of astronauts on a NASA space station, have run out of food, turned down an offer of borscht from a Russian space station nearby, and are very keen on pasta, but there’s no Italian space station they can turn to, please help, Houston engages Aldi to solve the problem.
Directed by filmmaker Bart Timmer, and filmed in Sofia, Bulgaria, and an Aldi Süd store in Bavaria, Germany, the superbly produced cinematic commercial, with its unexpected approach, makes for fun viewing.
2. Heineken, Nature’s Wonder
Advertising Agency: TBWA\Neboko, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Production Company: Czar, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Directed by filmmaker Bart Timmer, this amusing cinematic take on the wonder of nature’s Northern Lights occurrences, known as Aurora Borealis, reveals the ‘true’ cause and effect of the spectacular phenomenon.
The original soundtrack composition of Heineken’s football-loving astronauts commercial, was created by Massive Music sound and music design studio, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
3. CANAL Digital, The Silver Hand
Advertising Agency: Try/Apt, Oslo, Norway
Production Company: Bacon, Oslo, Norway
This amusing commercial for the Scandinavian Pay-TV and Internet Service Provider is based on the human insight of feeling like a social outcast when you miss a cult TV series, and can’t participate in any discourse or sensible reaction to the show everyone is talking about.
The entertainingly exaggerated story of alienation, is skilfully directed by filmmaker Bart Timmer, who elicits a delightfully strong performances from his cast.
4. CANAL Plus, Fuel For Fans
Advertising Agency: BETC, Paris, France
Production Company : Henry de Czar, Paris, France
CANAL+ is the most important premium pay TV channel in France. It specialises in football event coverage and movies and has over 13 million subscribers.
Directed by filmmaker Bart Timmer, ‘Fuel for Fans’ is an effective expression of the excitement a great game elicits from football lovers. It is an inventively lateral idea, visually very creative, and a fun commercial to watch.
5. VW Tiguan Trailer Assist, Laughing Horses
Adverting Agency: Grabarz & Partner, Hamburg, Germany
Production Company: Czar, Berlin, Germany
The globally popular VW Trailer Assist commercial, directed by filmmaker Bart Timmer, features laughing horses that are amusingly watchable.
From being Volkswagen Germany’s most successful online commercial debut of all time motivating 40 million views, to its TV viewing flighting, the Tiguan Trailer Assist scenario garnered a bevy of awards from The One Show, New York Festivals, Epica, Eurobest, D&AD, Clio, Lia, Cannes, and ADCE.
6. CANALPlay, Vampire
Advertising Agency: Buzzman, Paris, France
Production Company: Henry, Paris, France
CANALPlay is a French video on demand Internet service. Directed by filmmaker Bart Timmer, this cinematic commercial is brought to life by a stellar performance from John Malkovich as a vampire Bank Manager, who amusingly, seems to have overcome any problems of operating during daylight hours.
7. Citroen C4 Grand Picasso, Winter Holiday
Advertising Agency: Les Gaulois, Paris, France
Production Company: Henry de Czar, Paris, France
Filmmaker Bart Timmer’s storytelling expertise comes to fore again in a commercial about a family happy to be on the road, to an eagerly awaited winter holiday, that turns out to be such a misadventure, that they can’t wait to be on the road again heading home, is an amusing scenario of how stressful family holiday’s can turn out to be.
That feeling of ‘enough is enough’, I just want to go home in the comfort zone of my car, many families no doubt, will easily relate to with a knowing smile.
8. Citroen C4 Grand Picasso, Summer Holiday
Advertising Agency: Les Gaulois, Paris, France
Production Company: Henry de Czar, Paris, France
Following the same format as the winter holiday scenario, filmmaker Bart Timmer’s directional storytelling skills centres on a family’s summer holiday mishaps.
This time disappointments and stressful inconveniences that involves a rental villa shared with a couple of friends, once again reprises the family’s conclusion, that nothing would be more relaxing and comfortable, than getting back on the road with Citroën C4 SpaceTourer.