I ventured to Orlando Florida for a stop motion animation commercial shot by Shadow Machine, the same house that makes Robot Chicken this fall. No, I didn't fly...
The drive took us 4 days to get out there from LA but luckily we had some time on the way back to stop over and enjoy ourselves in Austin Texas for the Tour de Fat. Killer beer, killer live music. I'm already planning my trip back for SXSW.
The commercial was for General Electric. Epic experience. At first I hesitated when I found out we were driving but once all was said and done I'm honestly glad it went down the way it did. This was probably the first and last time someone will offer to pay me to see the southern states. After the trip (and in case some people were still on the fence) I can confirm that Texas is in fact another country pretending to be part of the United States. There was a morning when I woke up covered in glitter, another when I woke up with a headache next to a yellow lab (insert joke here). There were moments on the road, while stopped at a convenience store for more Redbull when I thought to myself, "Do people really eat that?" I bought 7 dollar gallons of unleaded fuel, watched a man vomit out the door of a Galpin production cube and received dirty looks at a truck stop because of my tank top. I tasted the delicacies of southern fast food and discovered that a buffet in Louisiana does not look anything like a buffet in LA. For the rest of my life I'll be forced to sound like a hipster at all the live music shows I attend in California when I say, "Yeah this is cool but when I was in Austin..."
The drive took us 4 days to get out there from LA but luckily we had some time on the way back to stop over and enjoy ourselves in Austin Texas for the Tour de Fat. Killer beer, killer live music. I'm already planning my trip back for SXSW.
The commercial was for General Electric. Epic experience. At first I hesitated when I found out we were driving but once all was said and done I'm honestly glad it went down the way it did. This was probably the first and last time someone will offer to pay me to see the southern states. After the trip (and in case some people were still on the fence) I can confirm that Texas is in fact another country pretending to be part of the United States. There was a morning when I woke up covered in glitter, another when I woke up with a headache next to a yellow lab (insert joke here). There were moments on the road, while stopped at a convenience store for more Redbull when I thought to myself, "Do people really eat that?" I bought 7 dollar gallons of unleaded fuel, watched a man vomit out the door of a Galpin production cube and received dirty looks at a truck stop because of my tank top. I tasted the delicacies of southern fast food and discovered that a buffet in Louisiana does not look anything like a buffet in LA. For the rest of my life I'll be forced to sound like a hipster at all the live music shows I attend in California when I say, "Yeah this is cool but when I was in Austin..."
I worked on another FX promo for their show, Sons of Anarchy. I had the chance to meet and work with Ron Pearlman who was just as bad ass as he was when I met him while working on Spurlock's Comic-Con film the previous summer. Nobody makes me want to smoke cigars more than this guy...
We shot in studio and in the middle of nowhere in...Lancaster I guess? It was a kick ass shoot with some good people. FX promos are always great gigs.
I shot a Ford Explorer promo for Autoweek in San Diego which was competing with the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Honda Pilot and Toyota 4Runner.
We shot at the Del Mar fairgrounds, and a private zoo called "Lions and Tigers and Bears" in east county. There a couple videos below and more here if you want to check them out.
We shot at the Del Mar fairgrounds, and a private zoo called "Lions and Tigers and Bears" in east county. There a couple videos below and more here if you want to check them out.
Never trust electricians. That's my advice after wrapping this Verizon commercial. If an electrician starts to get happy and giggling with his tattoo covered buddies about paychecks you know it's going to be a long night. We shot day 1 on the Universal lot, the same outdoor stage they shot the 1st Jaws in, actually. Day 2 was on a beach just north of Malibu, we literally converted the beach into a jungle. A week later when I coincidentally returned to the same beach for a Korean beer commercial and it had been completely removed. From beach to jungle and then back into a beach in a week. God bless wrap crews. So as we're setting up our village on the beach the DP strolls out of the ocean in a sombrero and board shorts. He flips open a cooler and grabs a ziplock bag, pulls out a cigar and lights up. Grabs a director's chair and walks down the beach only to turn and yell to the AD, "I'm ready to shoot!!" Who is the DP you ask? Janusz Kaminski.
Day three was on the Disney lot. Around noon I hopped in a stake bed in Hollywood and headed to Anaheim with my GPS set for the happiest place on earth. We had to wait for the crowds to clear before heading to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride where we finished up the commercial. At this point Janusz was pulling focus in Mickey Mouse gloves. All said and done I crawled into bed with the sunrise thinking about electricians...and how I don't trust them.
Day three was on the Disney lot. Around noon I hopped in a stake bed in Hollywood and headed to Anaheim with my GPS set for the happiest place on earth. We had to wait for the crowds to clear before heading to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride where we finished up the commercial. At this point Janusz was pulling focus in Mickey Mouse gloves. All said and done I crawled into bed with the sunrise thinking about electricians...and how I don't trust them.
Best Buy began its ad campaign for Dr. Dre's new line of headphones soon after I worked on HP's ad campaign of a similar product, Beats, the new laptop designed by Dre himself.
The Best Buy ad was for Beats Solos headphones and was filmed over the course of a few days in Hollywood.
We got to preview Dre's new song which had yet to hit radio stations. Check it out here.
What do you do when you don't budget for background actors? You give your PAs a pay bump and stick them behind the wheel of disposable police cruiser rentals and tell them to chase the camera car. In a 3 day gig for a french sunglass commercial I had the chance to do just that.
The company decided to recreate the look from Kill Bill, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Thelma & Louise and plug their eyewear throughout. We shot at the actual location from the beginning scene of Kill Bill out in the middle of Lancaster.
Christian Butcher and I worked on this project and had a blast in the process. "What?? You said I'm getting paid for this???"
On the third day, during our Breakfast at Tiffany's shoot, I jumped in with art department for the day and helped build the set. Fun stuff.
The company decided to recreate the look from Kill Bill, Breakfast at Tiffany's and Thelma & Louise and plug their eyewear throughout. We shot at the actual location from the beginning scene of Kill Bill out in the middle of Lancaster.
Christian Butcher and I worked on this project and had a blast in the process. "What?? You said I'm getting paid for this???"
On the third day, during our Breakfast at Tiffany's shoot, I jumped in with art department for the day and helped build the set. Fun stuff.
Save-A-Lot decided to spend-a-lot and crafted a pretty hip commercial. The 'in the process' tech direction was interesting when comparing the production vs the finished product. It takes quite a mind to imagine how things look on the monitors to how they'll look once they go through post.
Check out the finished product below.
Check out the finished product below.
In July I worked on an Oreo commercial directed by Brett Ratner. The promotional team consisted ofEli Manning, Venus Williams, Apollo Ohno and Shaq. The first day was shot on the Paramount lot which was really cool. I parked our production cube on the New York set which was really surreal. The second day was at an airplane hangar in Santa Monica.
This spot is a follow up to the original DSRL commercial that aired earlier in the spring. You can get up to speed here.
Apollo's set had a huge ice skating rink directly below one of the largest green screens I have ever seen. The light source was a helium balloon built out of silk that acted like a floating chimera. There is a photo below.
The commercial had amazing art direction and a really funny script. Once the final product has been broadcast, I'll upload a copy. In the mean time check out these short clips and outtakes.
This spot is a follow up to the original DSRL commercial that aired earlier in the spring. You can get up to speed here.
Apollo's set had a huge ice skating rink directly below one of the largest green screens I have ever seen. The light source was a helium balloon built out of silk that acted like a floating chimera. There is a photo below.
The commercial had amazing art direction and a really funny script. Once the final product has been broadcast, I'll upload a copy. In the mean time check out these short clips and outtakes.
I shot an HP promo in June which turned out to be like getting front row passes to a Dr. Dre and Timbaland concert. HP and Interscope Records have teamed up to build laptops specifically designed for music. At the Culver City High School graduation party, HP gave away over 20 laptops and dozens of headphones to its students in a raffle. DJ Ammo did the majority of the DJ'ing up until the main event.
Talk about getting the band back together....I shot a Bud Light spec commercial in Point Loma at The Pearl Hotel with Shannon Volkenant, Reese Avanessian, Spencer Scranton, Phil Guarnotta, Nate Elegino and Jonathan Knapp. My first time working with Jonathan, we had a blast and really had to bust out the shots in order to get out of the Hotel bar before sunrise, 28 shots in 5 1/2 hours.
We're cutting it into a 15 second, 30 second and 60 second spot to give a few options. The commercial is currently in the booth but I'll be sure to throw it up here once it has a final cut.
We're cutting it into a 15 second, 30 second and 60 second spot to give a few options. The commercial is currently in the booth but I'll be sure to throw it up here once it has a final cut.
