The film opens on a classic French man. He’s addressing the British audience currently watching and bidding them farewell from the EU. But just before he finishes, he launches into 80’s pop sensation, Rick Astley’s song ‘Together Forever’.

We then cut to a series of vignettes of people from across several European countries, also singing along to the song. They are all singing to the British public.

The song ends on the chorus ‘Together Forever’ and a title appears, which reads: ‘The average British person’s DNA is 60% European. We may be leaving Europe, but Europe will never leave us.’

Ancestry UK, the genealogy company, had a problem. They were known for just half of their business, Family History. But they wanted their newer product DNA, a service where you can trace your ethnic makeup from the last 1000 years, to become more famous.

Brexit gave us the perfect cultural context within which to situate our idea. The ever-growing cacophony of news commentary and pub conversation was reaching fever pitch. Brexit had also opened up another debate about our identity. A disconnect was becoming clear between those who believe us to be a purist nation of Angles and Saxons and those who embrace our inherent diversity born of centuries of inward migration.

We aimed right into that ever widening chasm with the one unique insight that only Ancestry DNA could bring to the conversation - a hard fact about our ethnic makeup. The average British person’s DNA is 60% European.

The film was a musical and it was decided early on that ADR would make the film feel manufactured, so all the singing was recorded live on set. The edit therefore was a huge balancing act between takes that had the best performances and takes that had the best singing. Everything had to cut perfectly on beat to help make the song feel as catchy as possible, whilst also drawing you into the visuals. It is an understated but incredibly complex piece of editing that is the foundation of this film.