Anders Eklind on JCVD and Volvo's Epicness

This time last year, who knew that the legend that is Jean Claude Van Damme would be a frontrunner for Cannes glory? The star of The Epic Split, for Volvo Trucks, has helped propel the spot to online greatness, and tonight's Film Lions could add to its success.

Here we talk to Anders Eklind [below far left, with copywriter Martin Ringqvist; art director Sophia Lindholm and copywriter Björn Engström], creative and senior partner at the agency responisble for the spot, Forsman & Bodenfors, about the idea behind the campaign and why he thinks it has achieved such success.

Epic Split has been a huge hit, both within the industry and, crucially, with consumers; did you always envision such a reception?

We knew that we had something special. But of course were astonished by the enormous response. Who could envision that a film about heavy trucks would be the most viewed automotive ad ever on YouTube?

Tell us a bit about the thinking behind the spot; how did the idea originate and was the client immediately on board?

The starting point was the new, revolutionary steering system. Everybody knows how hard it is to reverse with a trailer, but thanks to the new steering it’s possible.

The spot also came out of an evolutionary process beginning with The Ballerina Stunt, the first in Volvo Trucks Live Test Series.

We took all knowledge from each of these live test films and put it into the next, ending up with The Epic Split. And we did this journey closely together with the client.

The idea is, at once, stunningly simple but outrageously odd; what exactly was the top-line pitch to the client?

Relevance, actually. The idea is very relevant for demonstrating Volvo Dynamic Steering. It’s all about multilevel story telling. The broad audience sees Van Damme doing a spectacular stunt. A truck driver sees two trucks reversing in a way he didn’t think was possible.

And was van Damme the first and only choice as the star of the spot? What was it that made him the perfect choice?

Jean-Claude Van Damme has been doing the split in films for many, many years. He is famous for that, and that made him the perfect choice. We couldn’t think about anyone else.

Was he also immediately receptive to the idea?

Yes, he loved the idea.

What did Andreas Nilsson bring to the project and why was he the best choice of director?

Andreas Nilsson played an important part, we developed the idea in close cooperation with him. He also added an iconic dimension to the film.

The music is a key element to the film; how long did it take to find the Enya track and was it a unanimous decision to use it?

The Enya track came up quite early and there where no doubts. We all loved it. You put three odd things together - Enya, Van Damme and a Volvo Trucks - and suddenly you have perfect harmony.

What was the hardest part of the whole project?

To get two trucks reversing at the same speed with millimetre precision, and do it again and again. Besides Van Damme the truck drivers definitely are the heroes.

When you saw the final edit for the first time, did you know you had an online sensation on your hands?

The film is actually the very first take. As soon as we saw that on the monitor, we instantly knew that this was out of the ordinary. Thanks to all the films in the Live Test Series, we had built up a huge fan base. So of course we had great expectations that The Epic Split also would go viral. But we couldn’t imagine how big it was going to be.

Will there be a Volvo Trucks follow-up coming and, if so, can you tell us anything about it?

We would love to take this concept further. But we can’t tell you how, though.