Publicis Groupe celebrates 100 years with AI-powered film
Publicis Groupe is kicking off its 100th anniversary year with the release of an extraordinary film. «A Lion Never Gives Up» combines live-action footage with AI technology to tell the remarkable story of the agency’s journey from a small firm in Montmartre to the industry’s leading holding company.
The film "A Lion Never Gives Up" combines live action with AI technology. Source: Publicis Groupe
From its beginnings in 1926 as a creative workshop in Montmartre to its international expansion and its current position as the industry's leading holding company, Publicis has undergone a number of changes over the past 100 years. However, one tradition has remained unchanged: the annual wishes.
To mark the anniversary, Publicis Conseil, the agency of founder Marcel Bleustein Blanchet, is presenting a special Wishes film. With a mix of live action and AI productions from the Groupe's proprietary platforms, "A Lion Never Gives Up" tells the story of pioneering spirit, endless innovation and resilience.
A century of resilience
Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, comments: "2026 will be a very special year for us as we complete our first century. A century in which we have turned a small store in Montmartre into the largest holding company in the industry. A century in which the Groupe has risen from the ashes three times - sometimes literally - and reinvented itself many more times."
The spirit of resilience has made it possible to survive war, fire, economic crises, technological revolutions and a global pandemic. "It is this spirit that has characterized us for 100 years and is expressed in our wishes: a lion never gives up," says Sadoun.
AI and human creativity combined
The film is a hybrid production: a quarter consists of live action footage, the rest was created with the help of AI. Photos, films and documents from Publicis' own archives were used. "This film is a human, historical and technological odyssey that combines our best creative minds with our special skills in AI production to embody our belief that the future of AI is our people," explains Sadoun.
"A Lion Never Gives Up" combines live action, GenAI 2D and 3D imaging to reconstruct scenes from the past. This reduces the cost of scene reconstruction and opens up new creative possibilities. AI prompt artists and AI archivists managed a total of 4500 images for 150 individual shots. In contrast to the traditional pipeline, the editing process remained flexible: each shot could be generated from scratch.
In addition to the Wishes film, Publicis has produced a half-hour documentary on 100 years of company history, in which Elizabeth Badinter, Maurice Lévy and Arthur Sadoun have their say.
Responsible at Publicis Conseil: Marco Venturelli (Global CEO/CCO Leo, CEO/CCO Publicis Conseil, CCO Publicis Groupe France), Agathe Bousquet (Présidente Publicis Groupe France et Présidente de Publicis Conseil), Alexis Ben Behe (Executive Creative Director), Maud Robaglia (Creation Director), Gurvan Prioul (Creative & UX Design Director), Hamza Ben Maadoum (Directeur Artistique Junior). Production Prodigious Paris: Christopher Thiery (CEO), Caroline Petruccelli (MD), Yann Dubois (Producteur Exécutif), Cédric Herbet (Post producteur), Nico Vogel (VFX creative Director), Nicolas Loir (DOP), Damien Perrolaz (Chef opérateur son cinéma), Marie Caron (Directrice de production), Martin Sumeire (Producteur son), Kouz (Mix, sound design). Documentation: Stanislas Valroff (Réalization), Eddy Story (Production).
