Australian founder & distiller Miko and his English business partner Ian both live in Cognac, France. The Audemus distillery is attached to Miko’s home and Ian, whose quirky-home-made animated clips populate the brand’s Instagram account, lives in a manor house nearby. These two worlds combine in ‘The Home of Pink Pepper Gin’, which as well as being executed in an artistic and meticulous manner, is just as impressive for its informative nature, effectively communicating the suite of botanicals that are distilled to give the brand’s award winning spirit ‘Pink Pepper Gin’ its unique flavour. Crucially, two ingredients are omitted from the story and remain a guarded secret.

Production began in January with lockdown arriving mid-way-through and presenting its own challenges. To record the voiceover, unable to get into a studio, David Hargreaves, seen recently in Fleabag and This Country, had to fashion a makeshift recording studio in his wardrobe at home. Given he is 80 years old, that’s no mean feat. One of the modelmakers displayed symptoms of Covid-19 which delayed the shoot at first and then lockdown stopped the ball in its tracks. As soon as restrictions were lifted, a reduced team were at Clapham Road Studios to complete the stop motion section of the animation.

The film’s bold and diverse atmosphere brought about by bringing into harmony multiple mediums in an approach reminiscent of the process behind Space Jam and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. A hand-built miniature house shot frame by frame sits as the backdrop for six characters who were created using digital paintbrushes. On top of that, there are elements shot live action, including the liquid inside the stills. Three mediums in one film, a rare feat befitting of Audemus Sprits. The spot was directed by George Warren, an up and coming director and DOP whose graduation film at Kingston University, Uki, was funded by the BFI and aired on the BBC.

The 2D characters were originally painted in watercolour by Edd Bagenal as brand ambassadors for Audemus Spirits. These were adapted by animator Maria Morris to be more animation friendly. Normally 2D animators are free to create movement how they wish, but since these characters needed to interact with stop motion elements, Maria had to make the characters react to the set. Even adjusting their body positions to match the changes in perspective caused by the camera move. Music composed by George Grinling is the icing on the cake, drawing on a range of influences including Django Reinhardt and Cosmo Sheldrake.