The entire campaign led to the moment fans around the globe have been dreaming about for years: a 6-minute film reuniting the cast of The Office and 30-second commercials that aired during the Masters, directed by the award-winning Mark Molloy. The craft in every element of the production, from direction, script, casting, and cinematography, was essential to get fans of The Office engaged, and not rejected. But at the same time, it was crucial to bring the originality and the AT&T Business message upfront. And that couldn’t have happened if we didn’t work closely with our talent to ensure authenticity.

With small business enthusiasm at a 10-year low, AT&T Business did the unexpected: we reunited the cast of the worst-run office ever (The Office) and asked them to help calm the nerves of business owners. Since business owners reported suffering from sleep deprivation due to the worries related to their business, we launched a talking pillow filled with positive affirmations. Because if AT&T Business can help The Office cast run a small business, we can help anyone. Each cast member was responsible for a different business archetype — from ‘Expert’ to ‘Community Builder’ to ‘Visionary’ — and all business owners had their own custom track, created to help relieve small business anxiety. But a talking pillow and an album, connected seamlessly by a phone weren’t enough. We created a business that manufactured these talking pillows, to show that anyone can start their own business. Even Rainn, Craig, Jenna, Brian, Creed, and Kate. Our tagline summed up our strategy: You Can’t Dream If You Can’t Sleep.

The film follows the anxiety-filled day when Rainn and the team launch their business. Each member has been assigned a role in the business and, well, each kinda stinks at it. Things start to unravel as Craig has unfortunately locked them out of their IT room. Without the key, they can’t launch. As the panic sets in, we juxtapose this hectic moment with the soothing sounds of Rainn’s guided sleep meditation. And just when all hope is lost and Rainn believes they can’t launch, we simply and confidently state that with AT&T, they’re good to go.

Running a small business is hard. It’s full of challenges that keep owners and decision-makers up at night worried about a lot of things, from inflation to connectivity. And with small business enthusiasm at a 10-year low, AT&T Business did the unexpected: we reunited the group famous for being terrible at running a business and launched a new company with them. Because if we can help their dream of running a business come true, we can help anyone. While B2B campaigns are often unrealistically positive, we tapped into real business owners’ anxieties and transformed them into laughs and entertainment.

In partnership with one of the most in-demand directors in the world, the directorial approach was to bring this cast of known characters back together in a familiar environment. This gave them a great framework to work within that left plenty of scope for improvisation and opportunity for the cast to reignite the chemistry they shared on the original series. Add in the need to seamlessly include a brand presence into the mix, and the director was successfully able to give everyone their appropriate spotlight.