This is a smart beer ad. This story contemporizes guys in a way that celebrates mates, but not in the typical way.

It begins with Dave and Gary, rough and ready guys. Dave is getting married and needs to perfect his first dance. Sh!t, first he needs to learn how to dance altogether. And Gary is his dance partner and coach.

The film is peppered with other men from the workplace, upping the character factor – a gnarly old guy with a bad haircut, an oddly awkward apprentice, one of those guys who likes watching Formula 1 and has a head like an onion, the cleaner. And it’s through their eyes that we watch Dave’s journey.

Then we unleash the wedding! By the end of the story you can’t help but be swept up in the emotional connection to the dance.

My approach to making this ad the coolest thing Speight’s has done, is to craft a genius cast of characters. As the ad progresses, the faces we see, the characters we choose to reveal – get more and more interesting, real, raw, unique and ultimately hilarious.

The dance itself is important. This isn’t about a perfectly choreographed number, it needs to be believable for our working hero.

I wanted it to feel natural, not a fast cut through. We stick in for long moments. Seeing them dancing, getting slightly better over different nights. We witness the other workmates notice what’s going on, and they begin to stop by longer after work to watch – first one guy, then three of them, then the woman from accounts too. The location, setting is rural, where you find all sorts, a marquee with cars parked in the paddock sets the backdrop immediately.