Produce a repeatable and engaging social forward pilot program for a "how to" series based on an existing creative concept from Advance Auto Parts, and help entertain, educate, and grow Advance's audiences across their social platforms.
Last year, Advance Auto Parts ran a project looking for new and exciting concepts to run on their social channels to engage with their audience, and one idea that stuck out was to take their normal "how-to" content and turn it into an ongoing campaign where Advance could own a day of the week on social media. That led us to Fix-It Fridays. Fix-It Fridays will see Advance Auto Parts posting serialized how-to content every other Friday of the month, and help audiences regularly get quality DIY-friendly content for all their automotive needs. We're now looking for a filmmaker who can take this concept to the next level by producing a socially engaging pilot program that shows just how Advance can own Fridays.
The goal of this project is to create six 1-2 minute episodic explainer videos to bring Fix-It Fridays to life on Advance Auto Parts' social channels, primarily YouTube and Instagram. You'll also need to create one cutdown per episode that can be used as a recap or a teaser for additional episodes. In terms of the content, the six episodes should find a clever and memorable way to educate and entertain, covering different topics in each episode and leading with DIY educational information, before ultimately driving the audience to go to an Advance Auto Parts stores or their website to find all their automotive products and needs. This will plug into Advance's 2026 goal to "Engage. Educate. Amplify."
When it comes to what topics to cover in the episodes, this can include small tasks like how to change your oil or how to change a tire, and can get into bigger endeavors like brake pad repairs and troubleshooting your car's overheating. We are really curious to see what you think may be the most often searched for when it comes to DIY car fixes, and then seeing how you can creatively make the topics more engaging with your show format. Whatever topic you do decide to cover, it will be important that your instructions are accurate and safe, so while the Advance team can verify things in pre-production, we are looking for someone on your team to have some automotive expertise.
In terms of the creative, we are primarily looking for live-action concepts, but we are also open to something that incorporates motion graphics, stop-motion, or even 2D or 3D animation. Your approach should be primarily educational, but that doesn't mean it can't be entertainment-forward and wildly outrageous. Social is about grabbing someone's attention right away, after all, so we really want to hook people in a fresh way, beyond what they'd expect from a traditional car maintenance video. Think about an out-of-the-box way to hook DIYers and young mechanics. Think about how you might even engage a younger audience that's just beginning to drive. What allows you to deliver easily digestible and entertaining content, while still telling them what they need to know to fix their cars themselves? Can we - for example - turn the whole thing into a social-forward game show, where different contestants compete in each video, and have the whole thing filmed selfie-style on the go? Or can we make it humorous, with weird and wacky DIY approaches gone wrong, followed up by showing the right way to do something? There's a lot of different ways to do this, and we want to feel surprised and delighted when we see yours.
Since we will be looking for the episodes to be in both 16x9 for YouTube and 9x16 for Instagram and Facebook, we will want to find efficiencies in filming everything for both aspect ratios at once, or make sure there is a plan in place for how you may reformat the footage specifically for the social forward 9x16 versions. Since these videos are primarily for social, you can film them on a professional camera or even on your smartphone if you think the style and look would be more fitting for your overall concept. We would like to primarily see executions that are taking place outside of an Advance storefront and while there may be the opportunity to film at a storefront if it is fitting and needed for your concept, we would encourage you to think more of places like an auto body shop, someone's personal garage or driveway, a parking lot, or even inside the car. Wherever you choose to film, your location should feel relevant to the automotive space and allow for the proper instructions to be explained and visually appealing.
In terms of talent, we would avoid having a single host (or hosts) running every episode; we don't want the series to hinge on one person, and we want the flexibility to bring in other talent when we need it, or to shake up the format. That doesn't mean you can't have talent appear in more than one episode, and you can certainly have different individuals function in a host-type role, if that makes sense for the format. In terms of the actual casting, talent should be diverse and fitting to an older Gen-Z or younger millennial, while being believable as someone who would work on their own car. If your approach does include a customer or an Advance team member on camera, they'll need to be talent that you cast. Any actor that you cast as an Advance team member does not need to be a mechanic by any means, but if providing any kind of service, they'll need to be familiar with properly performing the service. Advance will provide information about the general procedures that should be followed when performing each service on camera, and they will provide thorough safety guidelines. Any team members will be required to wear the Advance team member shirt and a nametag, which Advance will also provide, but your budget must include the team members' pants, shoes, and belt, as well as wardrobe for anyone else shown in the videos. Open to using the same talent across multiple videos per filmmaking team.
We want the series to feel evergreen - not necessarily tied to any season, event, holiday, or sale - but you'll also want your creative approach to be flexible and refreshable, allowing Advance to include season or product-specific episodes in the future. Importantly, you should consider this project as the pilot for a longer campaign or series. Once the greenlit team has created the content for June-August, there's the potential for Advance to evaluate the results and the performance, and then greenlight the same team for the remainder of the calendar year.
As a lead-in to the episodes, we also want you to create a single :02-:05 intro title card that can be used with every episode to establish "Fix-It Fridays" and become a recognizable visual cue for viewers to tune in for the repeatable content. This can be something like a cheesy and fun television intro, or it could be a quick, but visually compelling graphic with some kind of an earworm jingle. You should keep in mind this intro needs to pair with all Fix-It Friday videos now and in the future, so it should not have specific ties to any one person or video, although we will want the potential to update it as needed. You will need to provide all organized project files for the intro video to be adapted for future use.
When creating any visuals, you should use the provided logo for each brand, though in terms of colors and style, you should focus on the Advance Brand Guidelines and use the brand colors sparingly.
Check out more information in the Background, and for any questions or other project updates, check out the Project Forum.
DELIVERABLES: There are 26 total video assets.
EXPECTED TIMELINE: HERE
EXPOSURE: We expect content will be used on the platforms below, but if casting talent, be sure they review our required Talent Release before they're cast, as we CANNOT guarantee that usage is limited to these platforms. You should also review our Music providers in the Project Requirements, as well as the platform best practices.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
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EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES:
AI USAGE: You may not use AI generated visual or audio assets in your final content. However, for the purposes of your pitch and pre-production materials, you are welcome to use generative AI to create visuals, storyboards, animatics, proofs-of-concept, etc. that might help the Sponsor understand your vision for creating the final content. Additionally, assistive AI tools (e.g. object removal, compositing, color grading, sound mixing, subtitling, etc.) may be used in post-production to supplement your workflow. Please keep record of any AI usage deployed in your submissions in the event that the Sponsor requests AI disclosures. If you have questions about any specific usage or tool, please ask your Tongal producer.
By participating in this project, creators acknowledge that the Sponsor is under no obligation to greenlight a submission. Though most projects do move forward, we'll notify you in the event the Sponsor decides not to fund any submissions via the Project Forum. Regardless of the result, all submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the Sponsor and project team.
In order to be considered, include the below materials in your submission. For examples of effective pitches, check out this gallery. All Pitches remain private, even after a Pitch is selected, and Tongal strives to have Pitch selections made by the end of the Evaluation period,but additional time may be required by the Sponsor, depending on any number of factors. Unless specifically requested, there's no need to include a budget with your submission.
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Creators who’ve been selected will receive funding upon completing the Winner Affidavit and the IP Assignment. Payment of the pitch funds is subject to a payment schedule determined by Tongal, typically included with the project timeline.
PRE-PRODUCTION BIBLE & APPROVALS: Prior to the commencement of actual production, creators MUST prepare a singular pre-production "bible" document with the elements contained below, and that document MUST receive final approval from the Sponsor. We recommend that you use the bible template we provide HERE, or something very similar. The bible can be presented in stages as different elements are ready for review (i.e. it's not expected that storyboards, if required, are ready with your first draft). Apart from the below, you're also welcome to include other key items that you think would be helpful to communicate your plan (e.g. moodboards, lighting, music, shot list, etc.).
Note that there may be multiple rounds of feedback until elements are approved, and if you begin production before you have received final approval, you may need to reshoot or reanimate at your own expense.
For convenience, we've provided some helpful templates that you can consider using for pre-production materials, and they can all be accessed here.
BUILDING YOUR TEAM: Looking for help? Post crew and production opportunities connected to Tongal projects on Backlot. Backlot includes search tools to help you find collaborators and crew by role, skill set, location, and more, for productions of any size and type. Tongal also supports inclusivity in all productions, and strongly encourages you to hire diverse talent for your team. To find additional options for staff & crew in your area, check out these resources and partners.
REVISION REQUIREMENTS & RESOURCES: Once Content has been submitted and the initial Production Phase completed, greenlit creators will enter into Revisions. Creators will perform reasonable edits on their videos according to the Sponsor's feedback. Check out our Filmmaker Resource Portal to access helpful post-production resources like Text-Safe Guides for different platforms, Project File Organization Tutorial, Export Presets, and Captioning services.
MUSIC: If you use music from a library for your content, you MUST use one of Tongal's music providers: Universal Production Music, PrimalHouse, or Slipstream. Music from these providers is available to registered Tongal members at no charge solely for their incorporation into submissions to this project, and will not require a Music Release Form. To learn more, click on any of the providers' names above.
If you use original music, you must fill out and submit our Music Release Form. Please ensure your composer reviews and signs this form BEFORE beginning their work.
STOCK FOOTAGE: Tongal has partnered with the stock footage library Storyblocks, which can be used to source video clips, photography, and After Effects templates for your video submission to this project. Video or photo content from Storyblocks is available at no charge, solely for incorporation into submissions on this project, and will not require a separate Release Form. If identifiable people or intellectual property appears in a video clip or photo, you may only utilize assets that are clearly marked “Model released: Yes” or “Property release: Yes” on the clip description pages. You may NOT use any audio.
If you intend to use Storyblocks, inform your Tongal producer, and an account will be created for you to access the library. Once assets are approved for delivery, you must provide a complete list of all Storyblocks content that you used via our template HERE.
ASSET DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS & RESOURCES: You must also provide all project files, editing sequences and a 1080p .mov master file, using a ProRes, Animation, or Uncompressed Codec in order to submit final payment. You are responsible for any costs associated with the hard drive and shipping. Tongal also reserves the right to request all raw files associated with the project.
To ensure a smoother delivery, please review the Export Presets, Specifications, and Project File Organization Tutorial in our Filmmaker Resource Portal.