Overview
Sequoia Equities partnered with us to create a trio of emotional, story-driven commercials that bring the essence of community living to life.
Each piece was crafted to highlight unique aspects of life at Sequoia while tapping into universal emotions like love, belonging, and the feeling of home. One notable differentiator was the inclusion of a dog in Sequoia: Adoption, a deliberate choice to showcase Sequoia’s pet-friendly policies that set them apart from many competitors.
From concept through final deliverables, we shaped every step of the campaign—building narratives, planning production logistics, and executing shoots across multiple apartment complexes.
Creative Development
Our creative pipeline was designed for clarity, efficiency, and collaboration with the client:
- Concepting: We presented initial decks for direction, followed by one to two rounds of client feedback.
- Treatment Decks: We refined the cinematic style and emotional tone through a single round of treatment development for each story.
- Scripting: Each story went through three to four rounds of scripting to strike the right balance of story and emotion.
- Storyboarding: We finalized pacing, framing, and transitions with a single storyboard pass for each story.
This structured process ensured alignment early, keeping production on track for the complex multi-shoot schedule.
Casting & Talent
Finding the right performers was critical. These stories depended on emotional resonance, and two of our lead actors had the ability to cry on cue—saving valuable time on set while bringing raw authenticity to the final performances.
For Sequoia: Adoption, we brought in a trained dog, marking our first time working with animal talent. The dog’s handler guided flawless performances that elevated the story while communicating Sequoia’s pet-friendly positioning.
Production Design & Wardrobe
Every commercial required an elevated sense of realism. Our team customized environments and props to feel lived-in and personal:
- A hand-painted doghouse personalized with the pet’s name.
- Hanging cutout photos of the talent staged to look like years of shared memories.
- Carefully curated personal décor and set pieces to transform apartments into authentic homes.
- Specific props tying into to specific dialogue or story points.
Because each story spanned multiple “days in the life,” talent underwent frequent outfit changes, which required detailed planning, steaming, styling, and continuity tracking throughout production.
Location & Logistics
Filming took place three hours outside San Francisco, which meant crew lodging had to be arranged for the entire team. Balancing the budget with the need for a rested, efficient crew was a challenge, but ultimately key to maintaining production value.
Each commercial was scheduled as a two-day shoot with 10-12 hour days, requiring precise planning to ensure we captured every scripted scene, wardrobe change, and location move on time.
We conducted pre-scouts at several complexes to determine which locations would best support each narrative, as well as show off multiple of the amenities on the properties (gym, pool, bbq area, clubhouse, walkways, etc).
Each space inside the apartments was tight for filming, especially when balancing lighting, crew, and camera movement on the dolly. Careful blocking and creative equipment placement allowed us to maximize each frame while keeping the production footprint minimal.
Because we worked with a lot of natural lighting outdoors, we also had to prepare for all types of weather—planning for sunny skies, managing overcast conditions, and ensuring continuity across shifting light throughout the day.
For the pivotal candle-lit proposal scene, we had to manipulate time of day—partially blacking out one direction to mimic dusk while actually waiting for full night on the reverse angle.
On-Set Challenges
As with any production, unexpected hurdles arose:
- Environmental disruptions: Because residents lived onsite, we locked off areas, coordinated with property teams, and paused landscaping equipment (like leaf blowers) during rolling.
- Wardrobe approval delays: Limited cell service at some complexes made sending outfit photos for client approval difficult. With tight timelines, we had to make fast, confident styling decisions whenever we had client nearby.
- Sprinkler mishap: During one of the days, sprinklers on an automatic spray schedule soaked our lighting equipment mid-scene. The crew sprang into action, moving gear out of the spray zone while cameras kept rolling inside.
- Packed schedule: Each day was loaded with multiple location moves, wardrobe changes, and scene setups. Our 1st AD was instrumental in keeping everything on track—adjusting for surprises in real time while ensuring the shoot stayed smooth and efficient.
Despite these challenges, adaptability, leadership, and quick problem-solving kept the campaign on schedule.
Results
The final campaign delivered three polished commercials, each accompanied by three unique cutdowns. Each cutdown had its own focus and perspective, allowing us to maximize footage and provide versatile content for social media.
Each piece reinforced Sequoia’s brand identity as more than just a place to live—it’s a vibrant, welcoming, and human-centered community, where people and pets build meaningful connections, grow through life’s milestones, and create lasting memories together.
