Mercedes-Benz “Holiday Love” Campaign — work created at Preymaker. All imagery and materials are the property of Preymaker and are shown for portfolio purposes only.
Project Overview
For Mercedes-Benz’s 2025 holiday campaign Holiday Love, I helped build the visual world for two cinematic films, Substitute and PTO, that re-imagined Mr. and Mrs. Claus in a warm, contemporary setting. While the narrative focused on charm and seasonal joy, nearly every pixel of the environment was constructed from scratch using AI-driven design, digital matte painting, and traditional compositing. Working alongside Preymaker’s senior team, I transformed rough storyboards into fully realized 4K worlds that seamlessly integrated with CG elements and live-action footage.
My Role: AI Concept Development & Digital Matte Painting
I built hero environments from the ground up, shaping the look and feel of the cabin, forest, hotel resort, and surrounding architecture. My work supplied core assets, references, and base plates to CG, and compositing teams while maintaining shot-to-shot continuity across entirely AI-generated angles and lighting scenarios. I also helped develop AI testing workflows that reduced render time, CG hours, and overall production costs.
Hero Shots I Led
- Opening cabin shot (Substitute) Full forest build, cabin exterior, tree population, snow accumulation, and horizon structure
- Porch close-up (Substitute) Atmospheric lighting, snow pile logic, and wood texture selection
- Bellboy lift shot (PTO) South Florida/French Riviera–inspired resort architecture and environment
These sequences anchored the visual identity of both films. Every frame included in this post I helped with to varying degrees.
Credits; Director – Peter Thwaites, Production Company – Corner Shop, Agency – Merkley + Partners
What Survived From the Original Plate
Across nearly every shot, only two elements remained untouched:
- The ground beneath the tires
- The cars themselves
Everything else — trees, snow, architecture, foreground depth, lighting — was constructed using AI-drivendigital matte painting.
Defining the World
My first step was establishing visual anchors for each shot:
- Ground plane elevation
- Architectural vocabulary
- Lighting angle and color temperature
- Tree density and placement
- Snow behavior and accumulation
- Lens depth and depth-of-field logic
Once locked, the worlds were built using Seedream, Google’s Nano Banana, Photoshop, and ComfyUI.
Shot Structure
Each shot was broken into foreground, midground, and background layers, allowing precise control over:
- Parallax
- Depth-of-field
- Environmental haze
- Continuity of silhouettes and tree lines
This layered approach kept the worlds consistent, even across angles generated entirely through AI.
Technical Challenge: The Opening Shot
The opening cabin shot in Substitute demanded the most detail and the heaviest iteration, particularly around:
- Black levels in the forest
- Tree structure and silhouette
- Horizon haze
- Snow accumulation patterns
- Balancing warm cabin interior light against cold exterior snow
Multiple rounds of AI generation, manual repainting, and compositing refinement brought us to a version thatimmediately resonated with the agency.
Client reaction:“This is it.”
That cabin shot locked the tone for the entire campaign.
Credits; Director – Peter Thwaites, Production Company – Corner Shop, Agency – Merkley + Partners
Design Decisions That Made Impact
Cabin Exterior (Substitute)
I controlled every detail:
- Wood tone and grain
- Placement and warmth of holiday lights
- Snow pile logic and depth
The final look balanced quiet solitude with storybook warmth.
Resort Environment (PTO)
Shot in California, but designed to feel:
- South Floridian
- French Riviera inspired
- Pastel, sunlit, effortlessly luxe
Watching the bellboy shot come together with CG elements integrating directly into my designed environment was one of those “this is why I do this” moments.
Cross-Department Collaboration
Because my assets touched every stage of production, I worked closely with:
- CG and lighting teams
- Compositing
- Production and VFX supervision
- Story development
By delivering clean, layered AI assets, we significantly reduced the hours teams needed to rebuild environments manually.
Workflow Impact
Under the guidance of Senior Designer Casey Herrick, we built an AI workflow that:
- Reduced CG hours
- Cut billable client time
- Accelerated iteration cycles
- Expanded Preymaker’s AI production toolkit
This project became a proof-of-concept for AI-driven DMP in high-end commercial work.
Final Thought
“AI is a tool that does not know its own strength or direction — it takes someone with the vision and discipline to guide it toward professional-level results.”
To read more from the team and to check out the full Mercedes-Benz ‘Holiday Love Celebration’ Campaign spots, check out this article on Little Black Book!
Preymaker Unwraps the Making of Mercedes-Benz ‘Holiday Love Celebration’ Campaign
