The Year of Compass Rose: Creativity, Craftsmanship and Global Collaboration

LBB and Pavla Burgetova Callegari, founder and executive producer, take a look at the group of service production companies’ past 12 months including numerous award and business wins, plus the spots that got the industry talking.

2025 was a challenging year for anyone in production. With clients looking for ever more efficiency – without a decline in quality – amid difficult economic conditions and emerging technologies. Production service companies have been working overtime to deliver on both. Compass Rose (a global group of top service production companies) experienced this first-hand with Pavla Burgetova Callegari, Compass Rose’s founder and executive producer, reflecting, “This year brought even more creative challenges and plenty of production puzzle-solving as clients look for more efficiencies.” For CR, it also presented new opportunities. “It really highlighted the strength of being an international network, helping our clients produce their best work and finding smart solutions together which I find incredibly rewarding,” Pavla adds.
 
Looking back on the past 12 months, what the Compass Rose group has achieved – and has been recognised for – is indeed impressive. “Creatively, it’s been a strong year, collaborating with great partners and talent to deliver projects we’re genuinely proud to have been part of.”
 
Pavla says of the collaborations on award-winning projects like Papaya’s ‘Swing’ ( with Icon Films Sofia for MJZ and director Nicolai Fuglsig) and Coinbase’s ‘Everything Is Fine’ (Icon Films Romania for Biscuit Filmworks, Revolver and director Steve Rogers), plus the expansion into virtual production through a partnership with Fantasy Studios. “The range of projects produced across different territories around the world, each leveraging local strengths and unique capabilities, is what I believe demonstrates the real value of our model,” Pavla comments.
 
As the year draws to a close, CR’s goal for 2026 is all about “evolving with the industry,” states Pavla, adding, “to keep elevating what an international service production network can offer. As new technologies reshape production, we want to stay at the forefront, whether it’s expanding into new territories, strengthening our virtual production capabilities and continually adapting so we can support our clients in smarter, more innovative ways. Our focus is on staying agile, growing intentionally and making sure Compass Rose remains a trusted partner as the landscape continues to shift.”
 

Ciclope Festival Awards 2025

Beyond thrilled to share that Steve Rogers film “Everything is Fine” for Coinbase took home Gold, Silver and Bronze at Ciclope Festival 2025. Huge congratulations to Steve, Biscuit Filmworks, Revolver and our amazing Icon Films Romania team.

Coinbase “Everything is Fine”
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks x Revolver
Director: Steve Rogers
Production Services: Icon Films Romania

GOLD: DIRECTION (OVER 120 SEC)
SILVER: BRANDED COMEDY
BRONZE: ORIGINAL MUSIC

 

Shark Awards 2025

Big congrats to our teams Icon Films Romania and Icon Films Sofia, and to all our amazing clients, cast, and crew for winning three bronze awards at Shark Awards 2025!

Coinbase “Everything Is Fine”
 Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks x Revolver
Director: Steve Rogers
Production Services: Icon Films Romania

BRONZE: BEST ART DIRECTION / PRODUCTION DESIGN
BRONZE: BEST DIRECTION

 

Papaya “Swing”
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig
Production Services: Icon Films Sofia

Bronze: BEST COLOUR GRADING

 

Press: Compass Rose Expands Into Virtual Production with Fantasy Studios Partnership

Pavla Burgetova Callegari and Lukas Skalnik discuss the new partnership, the need for virtual production in the current filmic landscape, alongside the creative possibilities the technology affords.

Compass Rose (CR), a group of award-winning service production companies, is growing with an expansion into virtual production via a partnership with Fantasy Studios, located in Prague. With two versatile sound stages equipped with XR LED screens, content creation and motion capture capabilities, plus an exceptional technical crew, the partnership is a valuable addition to the Compass Rose offering.

 
“We’re always looking for ways to expand our capabilities with tools that make our work better, more creative, and more cost-effective for our clients,” says Pavla Burgetova Callegari, Compass Rose’s founder and executive producer, global.
 
Amid an uncertain economic climate that’s negatively affecting production, virtual production offers value without curtailing creativity. Pavla says, “Creating virtual environments, like branded storefronts or interiors, can be built once, stored as reusable assets, and brought back for future projects. This kind of flexibility means brands can maintain visual consistency while saving time and money. By combining high-end live action with virtual production, the creative possibilities are virtually endless.”
 

AICP 2025: Gold in Production

The awards news continues with Apple “Capture” winning at AICP 2025 in Production. A big shoutout to our incredible Icon Films Romania team whose hard work, talent, and dedication helped bring this project to life! Congratulations to Smuggler, Aoife McArdle, and everyone else involved on this masterpiece.

Apple “Capture”
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Aoife McArdle
Production Services: Icon Films Romania

GOLD: PRODUCTION

 

The British Arrows 2025 Awards Winners

Huge congrats to our teams Stillking Prague and Icon Films Sofia, together with all the wonderful partners on winning Gold, Silver & Bronze Awards at The British Arrows 2025.

Coca-Cola “The Heroes”
Production Company: Partizan x Landia
Director: Antoine Bardou-Jacquet
Production Services: Stillking Prague

GOLD : ANIMATION/CGI
SILVER :  VFX

 

Papaya “Swing”
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig
Production Services: Icon Films Sofia

BRONZE: COLOURIST
BRONZE: VFX

 

Press: Lizzo Faces Her Demons in ‘Love In Real Life’ and ‘Still Bad’ Music Videos

LBB speaks to director Colin Tilley, and producers Danielle Wright and Lida Ashwell Ordnung about shooting the prosthetic-heavy, stylish films on Czech locations in freezing temperatures.
Over the last few months, Lizzo debuted two singles, titled ‘Love In Real Life’ and ‘Still Bad’ from a forthcoming album. The singles were accompanied by Colin Tilley-directed music videos, shot on 35mm on location in Prague, with production from Echobend Pictures and production service from Compass Rose ’s group partner, Stillking Prague.
 
In the videos, Lizzo faces her demons, quite literally, while dressed to the nines and performing impressive choreography backed by dancers in picturesque locations, including Barrandov Studios’ Parisian Street standing set. The videos are thematically linked with Lizzo appearing on the hood of a white car at the end of ‘Love In Real Life’ and also at the start of ‘Still Bad’ to signal narrative continuity.
 
Colin has worked with a lot of powerhouse artists in his career and the collaboration with Lizzo and her creative director, Molly Hawkins, was defined by a mutual desire to find a fresh, unexpected direction. “Lizzo is so open to pushing the limits and I was truly inspired by that. I was lucky to have my co-captain Molly as we conceptualised on this for quite a bit of time before we really landed on the concepts. We wanted to try and push it in an exciting new direction. Lizzo had great feedback throughout the process and was just down for going for it. It’s the best feeling ever as a director to have a team that is not ready to settle just to settle,” Colin says.
 
One thing Colin knew from the outset is that he was “really dying to shoot in Prague again,” having previously worked with Stillking Prague and producer Lida Ashwell Ordnung on Halsey’s epic album film, ‘If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power’ .
 
 

The Square Meter Dominates 2024 Awards Season

Created by agency HeimattTBWA, production company TPF-Tony Petersen Film GmbH and Revolver Films, in collaboration with our team Icon Films Romania, ‘The Square Meter’ campaign for German DIY retailer Hornbach scooped up The Grand Prix award in Film Craft at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Alongside this the project also won two Gold Lions for Achievement in Production and Direction and a Silver Lion in Cinematography.

The award win follows a successful award season for the project, directed by the incredibly talented Steve Rogers, having already swept up a number of accolades at Ciclope, The British Arrows, The One Show and Shots to name a few.

THE SELECTED 2024 AWARDS INCLUDE –

The British Arrows
*Gold: Cinematography

Clio Awards
*Gold: Production Design
*Bronze: Partnerships/Co-Creation
*Bronze: Art Direction
*Bronze: Cinematography
*Bronze: Direction
*Bronze: Music – Original

ADC Annual Awards
*Best of Motion: Film Craft
️*Gold: Craft in Motion / Film / Direction
️*Gold: Craft in Motion / Film / Cinematography
*Silver: Craft in Motion / Film / Use of Music/Sound

D&AD Awards
*Yellow Pencil: Production Design / Short Form / 2024
*Wood Pencil: Film / Cinema Commercials 31 – 120 Seconds
*Wood Pencil: Art Direction / Film
️*Wood Pencil: Spatial Design / Installations

One Show Awards
*Gold: Production Design
️ *Silver: Moving Image / Single
️ *Bronze: Craft / Art Direction

ADC Germany
*Grand Prix: Film & Ton
*Gold: Brand Building / Brand *Communication / Integrated
️*Gold: Brand Building / Brand *Communication / Film / TV & *Cinema
*Gold: Film / Live Action Film / Film For TV & Cinema
*Gold: Film / Live Action Film / Film Craft / Direction
*Gold: Film / Live Action Film / Film Craft / Set Production Design
*Silver: Audio / Music / New Composition for Advertising
*Silver: Audio / Audio Design & Music / Overall Audio Piece
*Silver: Film / Live Action Film / Film for Mobile/Online Media
*Silver: Film / Live Action Film / Film Craft / Camera
*Silver: Film / Live Action Film / Film Craft / Editing
*Silver: Film / Live Action Film / Film Craft / Casting
️*Bronze: Brand Building / Brand Communication / Film / Online Film
*Bronze: Activation / Advertising / Film / Online Film
*Bronze: Activation / Promotion / B2C Action
*Bronze: Copy / Storytelling / Film Script
*Bronze: Audio / Audio Craft / Audio Engineering
*Bronze: Film / Live Action Film / Film for Publishing

Cannes Lions
*Grand Prix: Film Craft / Production Design / Art Direction
*Gold: Film Craft / Direction
*Gold: Film Craft / Achievement in Production
*Silver: Film Craft / Cinematography

ADCE Awards
*Gold: Film & Audio / Craft Direction, Cinematography & Editing
*Silver: Film & Audio / TV / Cinema Commercials
 

Press: Hornbach’s ‘The Square Meter’ Is the “Creatively Chaotic” Awards Favourite

LBB speaks to TPF’s producer Florian von der Heydt and Icon Films Romania’s producers Ileana Anghel and Raul Cosma about crafting the practical-effects heavy spot that just keeps winning awards.

Not many ads can boast being awarded from 11 major awards shows while still being shortlisted for more. Yet Hornbach’s ‘The Square Meter’ is that juggernaut. It has already picked up trophies at the LIA, Clio, Cannes Lions, and the D&AD awards, to (really) name just a few. Directed by Steve Rogers, with production from TPF Berlin and Revolver in Sydney, and production service from Icon Films Romania (part of the Compass Rose group) the spot shines with realised ambition underpinned by craft of the highest quality. Commenting on the spot winning a Film Craft Lion this year, jury president Prasoon Pandey, ad filmmaker at Corcoise Films India, said: “It is not often that one gets to see all the cinematic arts come together so perfectly like synchronized swimming, to turn a DIY subject into a film with magical intrigue.”

Producer Florian von der Heydt says that the creative ideas grew bigger and evolved from the original brief once director Steve Rogers got involved. To realise the scale of the ambition, Florian turned to Icon Films Romania as he was aware of the company’s reputation for facilitating the “sometimes creatively chaotic nature of these collaborations” and because the team is “well-versed in the processes of large-scale international productions.”

The grand concept behind the spot is ‘Every square metre deserves to be the best in the world’ and this was translated quite literally in the production and the set design as it was decided at least one dimension of each room had to conform to that measurement – a significant challenge for the construction and departments. Pre-production lasted three and a half months while building the sets was a two week process, according to Icon Films Romania’s producer Ileana Anghel and Raul Cosma. The team at Icon is no stranger to complex and craft-rich productions, a subject we previously explored in our ‘craft renaissance’ series.

 

Read the full interview: https://www.lbbonline.com/news/hornbachs-the-square-meter-is-the-creatively-chaotic-awards-favourite

shots Awards EMEA 2024

Congratulations to the Carlsberg “Curious Beginnings” team on winning Gold at shots Awards EMEA 2024 in Use of Music (Licensed) category!

GOLD: USE OF MUSIC (LICENSED)

Production Company: Magna Studios
Director: Sam Pilling
Production Services: Icon Films Sofia