Machina has launched a new direct-to-consumer television campaign for Choice Home Warranty, produced through RogerRoger, the firm's AI production studio. The campaign includes two creatives, "Your House Needs Protection" and "Call Center," each delivered in 120-, 60-, 30- and 15-second versions for television and performance media.
Both spots were produced simultaneously in a single green screen studio production. AI generated the locations, extras, animation, motion graphics and visual effects, while live actors delivered all on-camera dialogue.
"Your House Needs Protection" stars spokesperson Andi Wagner and moves through a series of animated, effects-heavy settings that were created digitally rather than built or scouted. "Call Center" takes a more grounded approach, following an agent through a workday of customer calls and weaving in directed testimonials.
"Actor performance is the one part of a commercial we won't hand to AI," said Michael Pierce, managing director of Machina. "We cast and directed the talent the way we would on any set. What changed is everything around them, and that is what let us build two very different spots out of one production."
The production ran with a crew of about 12 people instead of the 40 to 50 crew members a conventional shoot would require. Two creatives of this scope, produced traditionally, would have taken several months and a budget in the range of several hundred thousand dollars. RogerRoger finished the campaign in about eight weeks.
The workflow also affects what happens after delivery. Because the environments and graphics are generated rather than filmed, offers, on-screen copy and selected visual elements can be revised inside the existing spots without bringing a crew back together.
"For a direct response advertiser, the shoot is only the starting point," said Bernadette Abasta, co-founder and managing director of Machina. "When a new offer needs to be tested, we can update the spots that are already on air instead of planning a reshoot. That allows a television campaign to be tested and refined the way digital campaigns are."
See how it was made: Watch the behind-the-scenes video showing how the two spots were produced, from the green screen stage to the finished AI-built product.
Machina is a performance marketing, media and growth advisory firm co-founded by Michael Pierce and Bernadette Abasta. The firm works with brands on performance and direct response TV, linear and connected TV, and streaming campaigns. RogerRoger, Machina's AI video production division, pairs live on-camera performance with AI-generated environments, animation and visual effects. More information is available at www.mymachina.com.
