The Matildas are Australia’s national women’s football team.

Australian athletes are well trained by media representatives to typically provide safe yet generic answers for sponsors.

Team appearance windows are strictly regulated with tight timings, messaging oversight.

The Matildas had an increase of attention heading into the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup with high expectations of a good result.

Woman’s sport in Australia traditionally hasn’t been well supported by sponsor campaigns.

In a tight athlete appearance window every second counts. With travel included in the athlete’s time we decided to film in their hotel. Whilst working in a limited space created challenges it meant we could focus our time on getting authentic performances.

Sitting down to write a personal letter in front of film crew is intimidating. By using our letter template and advice, we gave the athletes the support they needed to write eloquently and confidently in their own words.

For our nervous recipients, this was often their first time working with a crew. And we only got one shot at capturing their heartfelt reactions.

So, we create sets with limited lighting in personal spaces they were confident in, prepared them and then gave this special moment the space it deserved.

The emotional content in this longer film was also used in TVCs and short form executions across the campaign.