Britain’s best-selling ale brand John Smith’s ran a hugely successful No Nonsense TV ad campaign from 2002 to 2005

Director: Andy Morahan

Production Company: Paul Weiland Film Company

Client: John Smiths

Location: Koh Samui, Thailand

Location Brief: Luxurious & Exotic Hotel Resort with Stunning Infinity Pool and Island views

Notes: I was assigned with researching Thailand and Mexico to find a resort that would fit this brief that we could film at for 1 week, with a certain amount of control

Director Andy Morahan was at the helm, who is best known for directing the Highlander III movie and a whole list of music videos for the likes of Michael Jackson, George Michael and Guns N’ Roses

It was pre-internet, research consisted of ploughing through as many travel books as I could get my hands on. I came across a stunning resort on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand called – The Royal Meridien Baan Taling Ngam (now Intercontinental Hotel Koh Samui Resort), so I set off to recce

I photographed the resort and met with hotel management to propose the filming and schedule, which they accepted

A few weeks later we were filming at the resort and we needed a Black Helicopter, but we could not source one anywhere in Thailand, so the Helicopter that you see in the opening scenes has been totally covered in Black tape by the locals for the filming

TVC: