Brothers' takes viewers on a journey of the brothers’ lives, from their childhood in Canada, where they develop a passion for cross-country skiing, to navigating the loss of Brian’s central vision at age 19 due to Stargardt Macular Degeneration. Despite living with the untreatable degenerative eye condition, Brian and his brother Robin continue to train together, which eventually leads Robin to compete at the Olympic Winter Games, and both brothers to compete at the Paralympic Winter Games with Robin serving as Brian’s guide.

We decided to introduce a ‘magical real’ tone to the narrative and wanted to combine a naturalistic cinematic style with poetic visuals that elevate the film emotionally and give it a distinct identity. The core of the film would be grounded in emotional truth, but with a sprinkling of visual magic in order to heighten the experience.

Instead of thinking of this as a commercial, we approached it as if we were creating the trailer to the long-form film we shot about the McKeever brothers’ lives. We imagined each moment in their lives as a scene from the movie and cherry-picked the 3-5 seconds that helped the trailer. That freed us from every shot having to telegraph some critical piece of information or compliment a VO. We could go for a vibe where each shot became a building block toward the overall emotion.

The McKeever brothers’ story is full of drama and emotion. There is no need to enhance or exaggerate anything. As long as we didn’t get in the way, it could tell itself. We eliminated deep metaphors and flourishes for a traditional linear story unfolding from childhood to crossing the finish line. We interviewed the brothers to ensure each story beat was true to life and we shot it simply with the beauty and drama already inherent in the story. We found excellent actors that embodied the brothers at all stages of their lives. We found settings and scenes that evoke the appropriate era without stealing any attention away from the performances. We added dialog and VO sparingly, using it to add clarity of heighten an impact. And finally, we stitch the cinematographic patchwork quilt together in a manner where the total was greater than the sum of its parts.

We wanted viewers feel the moments, big and small, that led to extraordinary Paralympic achievement. To do that, we had to go back to the beginning. We meticulously recreated moments from the McKeever brothers' lives. Through wardrobe, props, and VFX, we re-created a back alley BMX bike ride in '80s Calgary, a big box TV moment where an Olympic dream was born, and an ominous interruption pulls the rug on the spot's momentum and jars us out of our reverie. But, with a simple outstretched hand, the connection is restored, but the hard work towards the finish line changes. Through research and interviews, we wanted to give the viewer an idea of what skiing would be like for someone with Stargardt's. Working with our VFX team, we created a blur effect to simulate his vision impairment to heighten the disorientation and the danger. We wanted the viewer to feel that

The story is ultimately about the bond between brothers. Apart from the diagnosis section, they’re always together, often in the same frame, Robin leading Brian. It would have been easy to go too soft with this story. It has a lot of heart & soul, but it was also essential to show the grit and determination needed by both McKeevers to achieve greatness and balance the intimacy with a steely edge.