Background:

Baking is a primary source of fundraising for charity initiatives like Comic Relief – with the great British public flocking to bake sales to do their bit and help to raise money for a good cause.

Maltesers are frequently used as an ingredient and/or decoration in baking.

Maltesers have put two and two together, and in 2017 will be asking the public to get baking with Maltesers to help raise £1million for Comic Relief.

So, every time someone buys a pack of Maltesers, bakes with them, takes a photo and then uploads it to social media with #BakeAMillion, Maltesers will donate £5 to Comic Relief on their behalf. 

What we’re after:

Maltesers want to make a 30-40” film as a call-to-action to encourage amateur bakers to get baking with Maltesers for Comic Relief, and to share their bakes on social media, no matter what the outcome. It should be a fun, entertaining video inspiring people to ‘bake any cake, any shape’ with Maltesers’ mantra, ‘Look on the Light Side’.

A script has been written – you can download it from the assets in the sidebar – which contains several “pairings” of cakes (big cakes vs. small cakes, innocent cakes vs adults cakes, nice cakes vs. nasty cakes, etc). These will be the basis of the film, and subsequent cut-downs for social media.

To start the ball rolling (so to speak), we want a pitch that briefly outlines your approach to these pairings, both stylistically and tonally. Give us a basic outline of how you intend to shoot them, and a guide to the style of the finished film. You should also include details of art direction and titling approach. 

Once we have your pitch, we will select three to develop into treatments featuring 6-7 of the best pairings for the final film.

The final film should inspire amateur bakers to get baking for a good cause. It’s important we capture the viewers’ attention in the first 3 seconds with a consistent style and tone throughout the film.

For more information on Maltesers’ ‘Look on the Light Side’ campaign, have a look at the links (below).

Tone:

The tone should be bright, light and exciting; light-hearted but not silly.

Creative Direction:

The film should have a steady pace that keeps the viewer engaged. The emphasis should be on fun rather than professionalism of the cakes. The purpose of the films is to provide the public with a wealth of inspiration for their bakes – from the simple to the silly, from the extreme to the quirky, from the catastrophic to the amazing – making baking accessible to anyone and everyone who wants to take part.

The film should include:

• Titles – to ensure comprehension without sound
• Engaging first frames
• A short, snappy format that has pace

Cast:

While people will be featured (mainly their arms and hands), there are no principal cast - the heroes of the films are the cakes themselves.

Diversity is at the top of Maltesers’ agenda so this is worth keeping in mind. 

Audio: 

We would like to hear your thoughts on this. We would like a music track with a tone and rhythm that suits the edit. Whether you feel sound design might work or not is up to you.

Graphic Direction:

Titles should be bold and easy to read but we would like to hear your thoughts on how you might treat these. The endframe will be set and supplied to you for your edit as a PSD or Illustrator file.

Mandatories:

• Maltesers must feature prominently as part of each cake within the film
• Stick to the script – it has been written as a pairing narrative so we can create cut-downs for social media

General guidelines: 

• Please do not include any other brands’ chocolate or ingredients. Any ingredients, if featured, should be in plain or art-directed packaging.
• Do not include children.
• Do not include anything dangerous or that may cause offense, that includes firearms, explosives and sexual content.
• It should also not be gender, age, race, or class specific.
• In your pitch, please include links to director’s work and details of the associated production company (if there is one) you will be working with, as well as any tonal references (photos or videos) that may help you describe your approach. 

References:

Current Maltesers commercials:

Look on the Light Side - Leaving

Look on the Light Side - New Boyfriend

An example of a light-hearted, fun and reverential tone here.

Some inspiration for some amazing cake decorations here.

Maltesers & Baking: 

Maltesers itself is a chocolate that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Neither should baking.

Baking these days has become more of a challenge than a fun activity. Competitions, TV shows, and food festivals all suggest bakers need to out-bake each other rather than indulge in baking for its own enjoyment. Amateur bakers need a bit of inspiration to see the lighter side of baking and have fun with it. In particular, amateur bakers find it daunting to take on a bake for charity, and need inspiration to get them going.

We think the enjoyment of baking is in the finishing touches and Maltesers are here to show you that any bake can be given a lift with a few little balls of fun.

So forget soggy bottoms and flat sponges and let’s help Comic Relief raise £1million through Maltesers’ #bakeamillion initiative with our ‘Any Cake, Any Shape’ campaign.

Brand/Product Insights:

Official Maltesers Page 

Official Maltesers Facebook Page

Official Maltesers Twitter Account

Process and Timeline:

We are looking for a short pitch (1-2 pages) that briefly outlines your approach to the film. The deadline for submission is 22nd November 2016.

We will then shortlist three approaches to go into a ‘triple bid’ treatment stage and pay each director (£500) to develop their outline into a treatment. The window for this will be one week.

Our producers will then be in touch to discuss each approach, including budget, execution and tone, before selecting which to go with.

The chosen filmmaker/company will then be given a 3 week production window to deliver the finished films. Final delivery for the completed film is 31^st January 2017.

The budget will be paid in two tranches, half on commission and half on delivery and acceptance.

Tech specs:

The film should be edited, graded and mixed by you within the fixed budget indicated and supplied as a finished film (or finished films) via a link in uncompressed Pro Res 442. We may ask to have the rushes which will be organised and couriered to us and by us (outside of your budget).

Any release forms and music licencing should be signed and supplied along with the finished films.

Assets:

Download the script in the sidebar.

Additional assets for completion of the film (including logos, end frame etc) will be provided to the selected filmmaker.