Boundless is an independent creative agency in Johannesburg, led by CEO Paul Jackson and co-CCOs Roanna Williams and Fran Luckin.
Note on the title. Mazda has not published a campaign name, so we call it the MX-5 heritage film.
The film
The camera stays locked. Driver after driver passes through the same moment, and the MX-5 changes generation by generation, from the late 1980s to the car Mazda is bringing back to South Africa. Wardrobe and the street shift with each decade. Luma's case study says the team shot real reference first, then used the tool to extend and assemble what a conventional shoot would have built as about 50 scenes.
What Luma reports
Luma's press release is dated Apr 15, 2026. Luma, which makes the tool, says this is Mazda's first AI-produced commercial, and that it went from brief to final approval in under two weeks. Williams's estimate for shooting it the conventional way is more than 20 million rand, over $1.2 million according to Luma. Deolinda Da Costa, Head of Marketing and Communications at Mazda Southern Africa, says in the Luma press release that the work kept "the joy of driving this iconic Mazda" at the front. Luma reports that Mazda extended the work into a longer-term agreement. The same release says Boundless signed an agreement with Luma to use the technology on future client work.
Watch the work
- The film, via Business Wire's release video (36 sec): youtube.com/watch?v=QqpBl6XoEis
Why it stands out
The idea is a single locked frame and a car that ages in place. The conventional version was the expensive one. AI is what kept the concept, and the team still started from footage they shot.
The Luma case study says the agency now brings three to four finished concepts to a pitch instead of one.