Everything is bright and sunny in Parkinson Canada’s “Find Your Swagger” ad that launched earlier this year.

The sauntering, middle-aged architect at its centre wins over a stranger at an intersection with a tulip and a jaunty stride. It’s a far cry from Simplii Financial’s “Start Your Engines” creative: a grim black-and-white montage of a greyhound ascending an industrial elevator, eagerly waiting to race down a hallway at top speed. Yet Broken Heart Love Affair is at the centre of both commercials.

The agency has a record for creating powerful film work, which also includes “Immortal,” a moving film for the Royal Ontario Museum that depicts the totality of the human experience. Of course, BHLA doesn’t just produce films. It also leads award-winning strategy, influencer marketing and PR for an ever-growing roster of clients, including Kruger, Black Diamond, Burger King, World Vision Canada, Cheestrings and others.

By now, most already know BHLA’s origin story – industry heavyweights Jason Chaney, Todd Mackie, Carlos Moreno, Beverley Hammond and Denise Rossetto quit their jobs and launched a boutique ad agency the month COVID-19 struck. Some of them already had a reputation for long-form video before BHLA was born: Chaney and Moreno were on the team that produced SickKids’ high-octane “VS” platform.

“We create emotional calls to action,” says Hammond, partner and chief business officer at BHLA. “But they are anchored really deeply into groundbreaking strategy.”

BHLA wants consumers to see themselves as the main character in the films the agency produces. Chaney points to when Karate Kid came out. Every one of his friends walked out of the movie thinking they were Ralph Macchio. This approach requires deep storytelling, and BHLA believes the best way to do that is to go long on video. “Immortal” is a six-minute film. One of the cuts for BHLA’s “Unapologetically Human” campaign for Kruger – an ode to human messiness – was twice as long as a typical TV commercial.

“Long form video is the best mechanism to influence emotion in the audience and that’s the business we’re in – connecting brands with consumers’ emotional core,” says Chaney. “In fact, the best performing ad unit for ‘Unapologetically Human’ was the 60-second spot.”