We wanted to celebrate directors, and the unique perspective they bring to everyday stories. In thinking about the campaign from this perspective, we knew we would need to work with multiple directors to showcase different visions. We decided that three was the right number of directors, and that we should consolidate our media buy to focus on making three 60-second short films versus having shorter units.

What intrigued us, was the notion of giving multiple directors the exact same script, and seeing how they would interpret it and tell their story. All we needed was a script, and a way to brand the spots in a natural, filmic way.

That’s when we came up with a receipt. It naturally branded the films right up front, and gave the filmmakers something to work from that was confining, but still allowed them to be creative.

We worked with award-winning Hollywood directors Antoine Fuqua, Marc Forster and Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg to create three one-minute films based on a single Walmart receipt. All they had to do was incorporate the six items into the storyline, and feature the receipt in the opening titles. Then we partnered with them to write, cast, shoot and edit the films.

Since we didn’t want the films to have to explain the whole idea, we shot trailers and behind the scenes spots setting up the idea. We did show integrations on The Jimmy Kimmel Show and Good Morning America.

On Oscars night, we blurred the line between the event and our films using in-show billboards to introduce each film. Our social media command center engaged in rich conversations on Twitter and Facebook. And in the end, people weren’t just talking about the nominees, they were talking about Walmart’s The Receipt.

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