Continuing its partnership with Airbnb, animation studio BUCK collaborated with the client’s in-house creative team on “Santastrophe,” a film designed to draw attention to the humorous hurdles that Santa Claus encounters when delivering gifts to a hotel. Through Santa’s eyes, we see that some trips are merrier in an Airbnb.
In addition to online and social buys. the film will play ahead of Wicked and Gladiator 2 in AMC theaters (U.S.) through the end of December, and in seven international markets with five languages.
The miniature world builds on a style BUCK developed with Airbnb in 2022 and features real-life, actual Airbnbs, all the way down to the teeny tiny furniture. Some more details in this spot, include the gold stitching on Santa’s red coat which evokes the Airbnb logo. Blending the old with the new, the film begins with narration in rhyming verse inspired by the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore and closes with Run-D.M.C.’s “Christmas in Hollis.”
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Credits
Client Airbnb Animation BUCK Joe Mullen, group creative director; Andy Lyon, creative director; Kirsten Collabolletta, executive producer; Fernanda Garcia Lopez, sr. producer; Laura Garcia Lopez, associate producer; Ruoyu Wen, Matty Deans, Tucker Klein, Rodney Lambright, Deco Daviola, Khylin Woodrow, Harry Teitelman, Song E Kim, storyboard artists; Heather Bartholomae, Lenny Mesina, storyboard editors; Shannon Rollins art director; Ben Nichols, Grace Park, Grace Poole, Joel Plosz, Matteo Berton, Matthew Kam, Mike Ellis, Rodney Lambright, Tuo Kan, Yukyung Lee, Carmel Gatchalian, designers; Fernando Utreras, Stan Chan, Felipe Hansen, Dae-Han Y, concept artists; Tinghe Yang, Junyi Xiao, 2D animators (cel); Alex Dingfelder, head of 3D/3D supervisor; Jens Lindgren, technical director; Peter DeSalvo, 3D animation supervisor; Tyler Lancaster, 3D animation director & 3D animation editor; Joshua Studebaker, Michele Herrera, 3D leads; Alfonso Petersen, Ash Samet, Chloe Tu, Danesh Taraporevala, Dave Soto, Eugene Goryachev, Paul Kim, Pedro Conti, Rui Huang, Tina Chao, Michele Herrera, Arvid Volz, modelers; Ernesto Ruiz Valasco, rigging supervisor; Hernan Ares, Juan Carlos Barraza Mendoza, Regina Cicone, riggers; Alvaro Michelena, Cesar Tafoya, Chris Meek, Hillary McCarthy, Ida Zhu, Josh Baum, Tommy Rodricks, May Lee, 3D animators; Glenn Suhy, Paul Hargrave, Sarah Chalek, Michele Herrera, Joshua Studebaker, Tina Chao, Rui Huang, lighters; Brinton Jaecks, Michele Herrera, Joshua Studebaker, Tina Chao, Eugene Goryachev, Sarah Chalek, Rui Huang, Paul Hargrave, compositors; Adam Webber, FX artist; Hernan Ares, Ernesto Ruiz Velasco, Juan Carlos Barraza Mendoza, Regina Cicone, cloth simulation artists; Ben Rohel, colorist; David Vendette, Talia Mazzarella, Heather Bartholomae, editors. Color Roast ‘N Post Sean Wells, colorist; Crystal Villamayor, producer
In a world full of speed, overstimulation and tech that delivers everything yet makes us feel very little, the real provocation is choosing to slow down.
That tension sits at the heart of the electric vehicle category. EVs have long been marketed as cutting-edge technological advancements, attracting early adopters eager to embrace the category. However, once they got behind the driving wheel, many discovered an experience that fell short of luxury: sterile, soulless, and overly simplistic.
For the launch of the 2026 Lexus RZ, Lexus and longtime agency partners Team One introduce a new creative chapter of “The Standard of Amazing” through a lens called “Electricity at Its Finest,” reframing electricity not as utility, but as a work of art.
With this hero film of the campaign, “Miles and Miles,” Lexus intentionally breaks from the frenetic pace of traditional automotive advertising. Instead of spectacle, it offers stillness. A single, quiet moment unfolds where a man savors two rarefied, electric objects: a plugged-in RZ and an impossibly modern turntable playing the timeless sounds of Miles Davis’ “Blue in Green.” Directed by Frédéric Planchon of Anonymous Content, the film is audacious in its simplicity and serves as an example of how electricity can create a seductively beautiful experience--less “iPad on wheels,” more emotional sanctuary.
“The new luxury are spaces and moments drenched in serenity. Engineered escapes from the rage-based attention economy. The RZ is designed to be part of that. A crafted counterweight to the outside world,” said Mark Koelfgen, executive creative director at Team One. “This film is about dwelling in the perfect moment. Timeless classics like Miles Davis in equilibrium with... Read More
