Register

    The Best Work You May Never See: Happiness Brussels Tells The Story of “ReStory” For Canon, Belgium’s Flood Victims

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2891 Views

    This film from agency Happiness Brussels (part of the FCB family) delves into the “ReStory” project supported by Canon. The initiative is designed to help Belgium recover from the toll taken by the devastating floods that took place in mid-July. Wallonia in Belgium, and more specifically the province of Liège, was among the worst hit. Excessive rains caused the Vesdre, Ourthe and Meuse rivers to no longer be able to contain the huge quantities of water they carried. Literally everything was washed away: 224,000 houses damaged or destroyed, 12,000 cars damaged, and countless pieces of furniture ruined. Unfortunately, many lives were lost as well. Since then and until today, the region is still suffering from this flood trauma.

    Also damaged were photographs which carried deep emotional value. The memories linked to these photos are priceless. Thousands of photos were severely damaged by the sudden and rapid flooding. With the backing of Canon, the “ReStory” project aims to restore as many photos as possible–representing a small but valuable contribution to the emotional recovery of the region.

    Geoffrey Hantson, chief creative officer of Happiness Brussels, related, “During the huge clean-up, we saw some very emotional interviews on the TV news. Many victims said that the floods wiped out not only whole neighborhoods, but also thousands of memories. Among them: thousands of photos washed away or severely damaged. Of course, the severity is incomparable to the number of lives lost, and incomparable to the financial losses, but the emotional value of these photos is nonetheless very high. And there’s where we could help, together with Canon and other partners, to restore as many of the damaged photographs as possible. To contribute in a small but relevant way to the emotional recovery of the region.”

    The restoration of the images is a joint initiative between Canon, the “Object Care” laboratory and numerous volunteer digital retouchers. The photographs are restored to their original state as far as possible, using a drying and smoothing process, followed by manual digital corrections. 

    This short film was directed and edited by Simon Schuurman of Happiness.

    REGISTRATION REQUIRED to access this page.

    Already registered? LOGIN
    Don't have an account? REGISTER

    Registration is FREE and FAST.

    The limited access duration has come to an end. (Access was allowed until: 2021-10-29)
    Credits

    Client Canon Agency Happiness Brussels Geoffrey Hantson, chief creative officer; Katrien Bottez, creative director; Thibaut Castaing, Gil Gauniaux, concept providers; Stephane Opdenbosch, photography; Simon Schuurman, director/editor; Bart Vande Maele, head of production; Dominique Turnbull, Pascal Delfosse, producers; Dries Lauwers, head of design; Emilie Wauthelet, design; Antoine Melis, photo editor. Lab Object Care Special Thanks Lien de Leenheer

    Media Type:Film: Short
    ScreenWork Categories:Short film
    Screenwork Type:Best Work
    Video Tags:FCBGeoffrey HantsonHappiness BrusselsSimon Schuurman



    The Best Work You May Never See: Writer-Director Steve Fuller’s AI Spec Spot For The Amazon Fire TV Stick

    Friday, March 6, 2026

    Steve Fuller wrote, directed and served as artificial intelligence creative lead on this AI spec film for the Amazon Fire TV Stick.

    Fuller took on the spec piece not as a tech demo but rather as a storytelling experiment. He was no stranger to AI going into the project, having deployed it for the past couple of years on treatments and as a means to supercharge his design work. Still, the veteran director--who’s enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Jeff Lewis’ The Directors Network--felt the need to learn and experience more when it came to AI. Thus he initiated a spec piece so he could integrate AI even better into his narrative toolbox.

    Spurred on by a desire to discover how his directing instincts could translate into the best utilization of AI resources, Fuller came up with a creative concept for a product he was a user and fan of--the Fire TV Stick. What if a treasure trove of iconic characters and worlds were racing towards a huge Fire TV Stick in the middle of a desert, converging there in order to compete for viewer attention? And the climax of the spot has a household about to make the fateful choice for what they’re going to watch from all these varied options and forms of entertainment.

    While via AI he was able to amass major celebrity talent and elements of blockbuster entertainment franchises for the Fire TV Stick adventure, that wasn’t the objective for Fuller who explained, “I was not trying to make a short film and suddenly have it star Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. Instead I wanted to see if I could use AI to make a really big and epic commercial.” The spec project was designed to open up the opportunity to curate imagery, create video sequences--all the while making choices as a director. “I approached it as I... Read More

    MySHOOT Profiles


    Add A Comment