Creative Chemistry: Inside a Technically Complex, Artistically Unified Dupixent Shoot with Zachary Scott and POP Creative Studio

When photographer and director Zachary Scott sets out to tell a story, he does so with a balance of warmth, wit, and visual poetry. His creative instincts are shaped by a deep connection to the natural world and he brings that same sense of harmony and contrast to every treatment, casting decision, and image he creates. For Zachary, great storytelling lives at the intersection of art, humor, and nature, always in service of emotional truth.

So when Havas Health approached him to direct a global campaign for Dupixent—a campaign that would rely heavily on practical builds, CGI environments, motion and stills integration, and typography that wrapped around real-world surfaces—he knew it would require the right team to bring it to life.

And that's where POP Creative Studio comes in. A collective of technologists and artists who treat visual effects as an art form, not an afterthought. At POP, technology is the paintbrush and the team approaches each project as a space to explore, experiment, and problem-solve with equal parts precision and play. POP was the ideal partner for a campaign that required as much heart as it did high-level production strategy.

Helping to bring it all together was our in-house Executive Producer, Rina Rachman. With experience as both a line producer and an agency art producer, Rina brings a rare and invaluable perspective to every production. Her creative insight and meticulous attention to detail ensured the shoot ran smoothly from pre-pro to post.

Together, Zachary, POP Creative Studio, Rina, the team at Havas Health and Dupixent helped bring the creative brief to life by crafting emotionally resonant scenes that felt as real as the people they featured while applying a flexible post-production workflow that allowed for international adaptability.

We sat down with Zachary, the POP team and Rina to hear how it all came together.

Zachary, what was it about POP that made them the right partner for this campaign?

The team at POP is an ideal blend of creativity, technical expertise, and thoughtful problem-solving—not to mention, they’re genuinely great to work with. Like any strong creative partnership, it’s important to collaborate with people who can both elevate the work and make the process enjoyable. In advertising, so much depends on relationships, and bringing POP onto the project strengthened my bid for the Dupixent campaign. When we combined forces, our pitch became even more compelling.

POP brought vision, skill, and production resources that carried the project from concept through final delivery. I felt completely confident handing off the post-production to them after the shoot, knowing it would be in expert hands for the several months of work that followed.

On top of that, they’re just fun people. Their collaborative energy creates a positive working environment—not only for me, but for the agency creatives as well. When I trust my partners, that trust extends to the entire team. POP is that kind of partner.

POP team, what was the creative brief you received and what was your initial ideation process?

The campaign was developed by the team at Havas Health and introduced to us by Zachary Scott, who we’ve worked with before as part of the Heather Elder Represents roster. The concept was to integrate empowering words into real-world environments—literally wrapping text around surfaces like sofas, rooftops, coffee carts—to show how treatment helps patients reclaim meaningful moments. It’s a beautifully simple idea, but deceptively complex to execute, especially for a global campaign that needed to accommodate multiple languages and talent demographics.

We pitched a hybrid production solution that combined practical set builds with CGI extensions and pre-visualization—plus a method to keep the integrated text editable, which became key to the entire process. We feel lucky to have had such great collaborators in the agency, Havas Health and the client, Dupixent, who made their vision clear while allowing for Zachary and our team to follow our artistry. 

How did you decide what elements would be photographed practically versus created in CGI?

Zachary Scott: The previsualization process actually began before we were awarded the job. In our treatment, we mapped out how we’d approach the shoot, knowing that much of the final image—particularly the environment—would be created in CGI. The main background elements needed to support the animated “I can” Dupixent text, which would flow through the scene. We wanted it to truly look like wallpaper in the living room scene and like exterior paint on the house. That defined what we needed to shoot practically versus digitally and the magic of this schoot was how the real versus generated would fit together.

For motion, we used blue screens where text would appear; for stills, we photographed those elements as neutral grey flats. Everything else—the ground planes, interactive surfaces—was built practically by The Faeth Gruppe. That helped ground the talent in a real space, giving me reflective light and shadows that made the composites feel believable.

POP Creative Studio: We had one key rule: If the text touches it, it has to be CGI. That aligned the entire production. Pre-visualization was critical—not just for post, but for pre-production. We built 3D scenes that mirrored the physical sets exactly, including camera angles, lighting, and dimensions. That way, every department—from set design to camera to post—was working from the same playbook. It allowed us to plan precisely, solve creatively, and allocate the budget efficiently.

POP, This campaign involved some complex text integration. What was the challenge, and how did you solve it?

Usually, you’d drop copy into a scene in 2D. But here, the entire idea hinged on the text existing within the world—wrapping around furniture, curving over brick, stretching across rooftops. It had to look physically real and remain editable for translation and legal review.

So, we developed a production workflow we started calling “Flexi-Text.” It allowed us to embed text directly into CGI environments while retaining full editability. Clients could change fonts, layouts, or wording right up until delivery—without compromising realism. And because the environments and text were technically separate, we could animate the text across surfaces for the motion spots, too.

Zachary, how did knowing the text would be integrated like that influence your creative direction?

Once the technical setup was locked in, I focused on the emotional side. This campaign was about patients—real people reclaiming meaningful moments. My job was to make sure the human story came through.

For example, in the scene with the grandfather dancing with his grandson, we took the time to build trust between them, find those natural moments, and let something real unfold. We also wanted the environments to tell a story. For example, the unkeptness of the house and exterior speaks to the nature of this illness. These details support the story but required major effort on everyone's part. The agency’s Creative Director, Kris Koerner, was amazing at helping shape those beats. We all wanted the visuals to feel emotionally authentic—not just technically impressive.

From a production point of view, what was the greatest challenge, Rina?

At the time of the award, we had only 3 weeks to cast and prep before a multi-faceted, complex shoot.  It was an enormous undertaking with many actors, multiple sets, practical elements and countless CGI components that had to be figured in advance of the shoot.  I love a good challenge; I love breaking down a concept and helping to figure out what is needed to make it happen.  It was a project that kept growing every day. I didn’t get much sleep and worked 31 days straight but with Zack, POP, the fantastic crew we put together and the wonderful Havas and Novartis teams, we all rallied and pulled it off together.  It was one of those challenging, stressful projects but thoroughly enjoyable because everyone was working together in lockstep.

What was the most memorable part of the production for you both?

Zachary Scott: Seeing the CGI overlays come through in real time—thanks to my digital tech, Brandon Kalpin—was incredible. Suddenly, we could see how the talent and environment were going to blend. That’s when I knew it was going to work.

Also, I couldn’t resist adding live pigeons to one scene. Let’s just say they weren’t the most cooperative, but they added some hilarious chaos. That blend of precision and unpredictability made the shoot feel alive.

POP Creative Studio: Figuring out the Flexi-Text workflow was a real highlight. It was one of those ideas that made sense in theory, but you never really know until you get hands on it. So when we showed the agency and client how we could live update fonts and have the words wrap perfectly around a cushion, following the curves in real time, it got a pretty great reaction. It was one of those “wow, that's cool” moments. It was very satisfying!

Rina Rachman: I think it was more of a daily thing where every day, more requests were coming in - more talent, more scenes, more animals, more video, and I was like a logistics octopus figuring out how we could get it all done in the time we had. There always comes a point in a production when you’re on set and you realize: this is really happening, and you can finally breathe because all the planning has finally paid off.

What made this collaboration special?

Zachary Scott: We were a true team. Rina Rachman and Megan Sluiter kept the entire production humming—100 crew and talent, and it never felt chaotic. My DP Kyle Alexander and his motion team worked seamlessly with the stills crew. And POP was there every step of the way, from pitch to post.

POP Creative Studio: We’ve got to give a big shoutout to the agency team, especially Kris Kroemer and the creative crew, and Sarah Guidotti on the production side. Big productions like this always come with a lot of moving parts, and their mix of experience, pragmatism, and good humour really helped keep everything flowing. They were brilliant at clearing hurdles, backing the team, and keeping the creative vision on track. Their energy and support made a huge difference and made it a genuinely fun production to work on, too.

Rina Rachman: Working with Zack and POP was seamless and a lot of fun.  There was an infectious collaborative spirit, constant idea exchange and full trust in everyone’s respective expertise. When you work with such talented individuals who put ego aside and put teamwork and the collective, creative goals first, there’s never a downside.  Meld that with good humor & hard work and you will win every time.

Zack is incredibly talented and has an amazing, distinct style.  It was our first project together, so I was excited for the opportunity to work alongside him and see how he navigates a project while infusing it with his creative fingerprint.  He has a keen ability to embrace the technical complications of his projects and then bring humanity into them which results in a seamless integration of tech + emotion storytelling.

And working with POP is always an exceptional experience.  They are a well-oiled machine and epitomize teamwork.  Within their own team, they share responsibilities, but everyone fully understands the technical processes and what is needed to make a project successful. 

Looking back, what are you most proud of?

Zachary Scott: The emotional resonance. The scale was huge—motion, stills, multiple markets—but the final images feel true. They honor the patient experience. I’m proud of how real it all feels, and of the team that made it happen. When a shoot of this scale ends up being this fun, you know you did something right.

POP Creative Studio: It was complex, but the results speak for themselves. The images are rich, the text is integrated, and the message lands. It’s a perfect example of how creative partnerships, smart planning, and a little Flexi-Text magic can turn a great idea into a global campaign.