Behind the Scenes with Matthew McConaughey - Top TBWA Producer’s Insights

Recently at Lava Media, we had the unique opportunity to sit down with Natalia Tkach, a senior producer at the U.S. branch of the global agency TBWA. We talked about her extensive experience in the American advertising industry and her incredible portfolio — from campaigns with Matthew McConaughey and Michael Bublé to projects for LG and Lincoln. And naturally, we couldn’t keep all the insights to ourselves.

First of all, a bit about Natalia. Natalia has spent over 15 years working abroad, primarily in New York, collaborating with industry heavyweights like Framestore — yes, Paddington Framestore — and Hudson Rouge, the agency behind the now-iconic Lincoln campaigns starring McConaughey. Her client list includes Bubly, Mt Dew, LG, Henkel, and many more. And she generously shared the most intriguing behind-the-scenes stories with us.

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‍Sergey Rodin: Your career path is seriously impressive — such a wide range of projects and budgets. I saw two videos that caught my eye: one about veterans, and another one featuring a children’s wish list. They look so different visually and clearly had very different budgets. How did you convince your team to trust you with such budgets?

Natalia: Big budgets are easy — it’s the small ones that are hard. But honestly, when a creative pitches an idea, we already have a ballpark sense of what kind of budget the client has. Lincoln usually has a decent budget — unless it’s a shoot without a celebrity. The wish list video, for instance, had a very minimal budget.

Our job is to find the right directors who can make the project shine, no matter the budget. Once we read the script, we understand what kind of director and production company we need — and start the search.

For the kids’ spot, we found a small Brooklyn-based production house that usually makes documentaries with kids. They were perfect because we weren’t casting actors — we needed real children, and someone who knows how to work with them.

The veterans’ ad also had a modest budget. That’s usually the case with social impact pieces. The agency doesn’t charge a fee for those — our salaries are covered, but the time we spend on the project is essentially donated.

That’s why these projects tend to attract passionate creatives and directors. They want to be part of something meaningful.

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Sergey Rodin: Tell us how your career started. What was your first project in a global agency?

‍Natalia: I was lucky to start out as an assistant to a producer who always took on the best projects. And our first campaign just happened to be with Matthew McConaughey.

It was the very beginning for me — I didn’t even understand half the terms or abbreviations they used. Honestly, I thought I’d get fired on the spot. I was too afraid to ask questions. But that phase lasted maybe three months.

So yeah — my first commercial was with McConaughey. One of his personal rules is that the director must have a background in real filmmaking, not just commercials. I was tasked with creating a shortlist of directors that fit that profile.

I still have that list saved somewhere. It included names like Kathryn Bigelow — we were seriously pitching this to Hollywood-level directors.

We eventually found one who had only done one feature but had worked with Christopher Nolan on an Oscar-winning film. That shoot was my crash course — I was helping and learning at the same time.

It was tough logistically. McConaughey had very specific rules — like he refused to sleep in different hotels. He had to stay in the same place every night, even though we had 4 a.m. call times and changing locations.

So we rented him a $150,000 yacht to follow the crew along the coast. No joke. Before that, I thought things like this only happened in the movies.

‍Lincoln — The Art of the Wish List

Sergey Rodin: I loved the second Lincoln spot you did with McConaughey — the one with the train, where he taps his fingers on the steering wheel. Everything is conveyed through sound and music. How did the creatives pitch such an unusual idea?

Natalia: Sound was definitely the hardest part. There’s a whole saga behind that. McConaughey himself was deeply involved in shaping the script and the overall concept. He’d approve or reject ideas — he had a lot of creative pull.

A huge chunk of the budget went into the music. For the creatives, this was a chance to do something different — especially because in car commercials, there are strict safety rules about hands on the wheel. This one pushed that boundary a bit.

When we filmed it, the music didn’t exist yet. So we had Matthew tap the wheel in all kinds of ways — fast, slow, soft, sharp. Sometimes he’d refuse to do certain takes. We were nervous because we were essentially flying blind.

In the end, we brought on Atticus Ross — an Oscar-winning composer. He said, “I'll do it for $100,000, but you can’t make any changes.” It was take-it-or-leave-it. We took it. We bought the score and then cut the footage to match McConaughey’s movements.

So yeah, it’s just a short ad — but it’s got an Oscar-winning composer and Matthew McConaughey. Not bad, right?

Ad Council & Veterans Affairs — Boil

Sergey Rodin: The ad with McConaughey looks simple at first glance. Short, one location. But what kind of production challenges did it actually involve?

Natalia: Funny enough, that was one of my first shoots — and when I watched the rough cut, I thought we’d just do a little color correction, maybe smooth his face (though honestly, Matthew looks great), and that’d be it.

But there were so many visual effects — way more than you’d expect. We can’t share the raw footage, but let’s just say the road wasn’t always centered. Sometimes it was off to the side, with trailers, parks, or random stuff in the background. All of it got replaced. It’s like the only real things left were the car and Matthew.

I call it “invisible VFX” — no spaceships or fantasy beasts, just a ton of subtle, painstaking tweaks. And with car commercials, there’s always cleanup — reflections, rigs, cameras. But this was next-level.

We even had a team travel with us to capture a library of trees, skies, grass — just in case. So they wouldn’t have to recreate everything from scratch.

Lincoln — Uncharted Waters

Sergey Rodin: Can you give us a ballpark estimate of how much that production cost?

Natalia: We shot both Lincoln spots back-to-back. When you go to a high-profile director, the more shoot days you offer, the more appealing the job becomes. They typically get paid per day — but prep takes weeks, and shoot days are only a few.

One shoot day costs around $300,000–$500,000. If it’s just a car without a celebrity, closer to $350K. That doesn’t include the actor’s contract — that’s several million on top.

This was eight years ago. So two to three shoot days would come out to roughly $1.5 million.

Smaller spots, no celebs? Around $500K. So yeah, it all depends on the product and the client’s expectations.

Lincoln — Perfect Rhythm

Sergey Rodin: Another spot that really stood out to me was the animated ad for LG. It looked like everything was made out of soft materials. I haven’t seen anything quite like it in the industry. How did you pitch such a creative concept?

Natalia: We were working directly with LG’s headquarters in Seoul — lots of early morning calls! It wasn’t the U.S. office. And honestly, pitching the idea was tough — they’re just not as imaginative. Not in a bad way — it’s cultural.

This concept required a lot of imagination at every stage — and they needed to see it to believe it. But they chose it because they wanted to bring more emotional storytelling to their products.

They also wanted to showcase a large number of products on a small budget. This concept made it possible without going over.

We shot in Brazil — even though technically we could’ve done everything digitally. But we wanted to build it for real. So we handcrafted miniature houses, streets, rooms — all by real artisans. The only real objects in the ad were the products.

Lighting was a nightmare. Miniatures are way harder to light than full-scale sets. It was fascinating to watch.

We also used cardboard stand-ins to test character movements, and then reshot everything clean. And everything we used had to be recyclable — a real challenge. Most common materials either couldn’t be recycled or melted under the lights. A fascinating project.

LG — Better Choices Make A Better World

Sergey Rodin: One more favorite of mine — the Bubly ad with Michael Bublé. The one where dishes get smashed and he rolls out of the fridge. Such a great concept! Did you really build all that set dressing yourselves?

Natalia: You can bring any idea to life in different ways — CGI or practical effects. The director we chose for this spot loves comedy and practical effects.

So yes, everything was done for real. He works with a crew that builds amazing props — like a giant fridge on wheels, with a pop-out table inside.

The hardest part? Getting enough cans of soda. The client sent us just 20 or 30 cans — not nearly enough. We shot in Canada, but Canadian cans look different from U.S. ones. And updating that in post would’ve cost a fortune.

So we found a U.S. manufacturer, hired a massive truck, and hauled the cans across the border. A whole mission.

We rebuilt an entire kitchen inside a house just for this shoot. The table that flips — we built that too.

Oh, and the cat? Totally real. It trained for a week to smash plates. We edited it together from several takes, of course. But it worked!

Bubly — See The Bubly Side

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