The Challenge
STIHL sells equipment. But nobody buys a chainsaw because of the chainsaw — they buy it because of what they're trying to take care of.
The brief was to tell a story about STIHL products nurturing the environment they were created for. The risk in that brief is obvious: it can very easily become a commercial wearing a documentary's clothes, where the sincerity is a setup and the product is the punchline.
The only way it works is if the story would still be worth telling with the logo removed.
The Work
We built the film around the people doing the work and the land they're doing it on. Long-form, documentary-style, shot on location and paced to let the subjects actually finish their thoughts.
The equipment appears where equipment appears in real life — in the middle of a job, in someone's hands, unremarkable. We didn't cut to it. We stayed with the person using it.
At nearly five minutes, the film is longer than a brand would normally commission. That length is the point. Stewardship isn't a fast idea, and compressing it into :30 would have flattened the thing the film is about.
The Result
A documentary piece that positions STIHL alongside the people who use it, rather than in front of them.
STIHL has been a continuing Flagship partner for years, and remains an active retainer relationship.
