Starring Karel and Richard

The entire creative concept of the campaign is based on people and their everyday situations, in which we provide them with simple energy solutions tailored to their needs. This is why the leading roles are played by Karel, a customer who isn’t particularly well-versed in the world of energy, and Richard, a miner who solves every problem he faces.

Karel is played by Marek Zeman. From the very start of preparations, we gave the customer character the working name ‘Karel’. During filming, we discovered that this was the name of Marek’s grandfather, whom he greatly admired. The idea of giving the character this name thus unexpectedly tied in with a personal story, and Marek quickly grew accustomed to his “new Karel”. And apparently, he’s quite fond of the name.

Richard embodies the world of energy and represents MND. In his case, however, he is not an actor. Richard is our real-life colleague, a drilling rig foreman, who arrived on set straight from work at Bentec in France. That is precisely why his role feels so natural. It is Richard’s real environment and his everyday reality, and thanks to him, our work has a concrete face.

From Prague to the hop fields and pipes

The first take was shot in a flat in the centre of Prague, where we started as early as five o’clock in the morning. During the day, the crew moved to Lyčkovo Square, which was briefly transformed into the backdrop for our campaign. In the evening, right up until late at night, we were back filming inside the flat, from where we then drove out to the mining equipment and pipes in Moravia. It was here that we captured Richard in his natural working environment.

A big thank you goes to our colleagues from MND, who helped us with filming at the mining centre in Borkovany. We’d also like to thank those who, as part of our pre-shoot site visits, allowed us to visit the drilling rig in Roštín or the centre in Uhřice. We couldn’t have done it without your support.

Who’s behind the camera

The director was Jakub Švejkar, an experienced director with a track record of numerous advertising and film projects. He is the creator of successful campaigns for clients such as Staropramen and Škoda Auto. His emphasis on authenticity and detail perfectly matched how we wanted to tell the campaign’s story.

You can see Richard and Karel on TV screens, as well as online, in the daily press and on outdoor advertising hoardings. We can already reveal that, from March, their characters will also be appearing on selected Prague trams throughout the year. We hope you like our “It works with MND” campaign.