The worldwide Web is also the “world-wild” Web with a no-holds-barred credo translating into exposure for certain spots that couldn’t get past television censors. In fact it’s safe to say that two of the three commercials in a FullTiltPoker.com campaign wouldn’t gain clearance for air on traditional TV.
But with the creative freedom afforded by Internet-only play, all three ads–directed by Steve Eshelman of Crossroads Films, bicoastal, Chicago and London, for U.K. agency Clemmow Hornby Inge–are thriving on the Web, using humor, some a bit risqué and sophomoric, to connect with audiences.
The tamest of the three opens with a slice of family life as parents and their young daughter are seated on a couch, watching TV together. The doorbell rings. The teenage girl starts to get up to answer–but the dad stops her and heads for the door. The action freeze frames for a moment to identify the father, Erik Seidel, via a super. The spot then resumes to find him at the door, which he opens to reveal the visitor–an older teen to punker-type with multiple facial and body piercings. The visitor’s motorcycle is parked in the background.
“Hey man–your daughter Amy in?”
“I haven’t got a daughter,” bluffs Seidel.
Undaunted, the punker asks, “How about your wife?”
“Single,” responds the dad in a matter-of-fact manner.
Still undeterred, the chopper-driving dude asks, “You busy?”
“Very,” replies the father.
Seidel is then identified as “One of the best poker faces in the world.”
Indeed his deadpan lying is evidence that in the poker world he is the consummate bluffer. A voiceover and accompanying text on screen then relate, “Some of the best poker professionals in the world play on FullTiltPoker.com. Learn, chat and play with the pros.”
Titled “Erik,” this spot could likely pass censor muster. However, it’s companion :30s, “John” and “Phil,” would not. The latter shows poker pro Phil Ivey return home to find his wife in bed with another man. She is clearly enjoying herself. However the entire time Phil maintains a poker face. His facial expression doesn’t even change when another man enters the bedroom and tells him, “Hey buddy, back of the line.”
Indeed Phil Ivey is one of the great poker faces in the world–and he’s a pro on FullTiltPoker.com.
As for “John,” we find renowned poker player John Juanda trapped in a small elevator with two men who are in the foreground. Unfortunately for Juanda, his elevator companions decide to engage in a farting contest. All the while Juanda keeps his stoic, perhaps breath-holding, poker face.
The core team at Clemmow Hornby Inge consists of creatives Paul Belord and Nigel Roberts, and producer Enca Kaul.
Carole Hughes executive produced for Crossroads, with Meg Matthews serving as producer. The spots were shot on location in Los Angeles by DP Ted Chu.
Editor was Rachel Spann of The Quarry, London. Colorist was Paul Harrison of The Mill, London, Rich Betts and Leon Woods of The Mill were Flame artists, with Ben Hampshire in the role of post producer.
Composers were Ben Lord and Robin Datta of Music Productions, London.
Hollywood’s Oscar Season Turns Into A Pledge Drive In Midst Of L.A. Wildfires
When the Palisades Fire broke out in Los Angeles last Tuesday, Hollywood's awards season was in full swing. The Golden Globes had transpired less than 48 hours earlier and a series of splashy awards banquets followed in the days after.
But the enormity of the destruction in Southern California has quickly snuffed out all festiveness in the movie industry's high season of celebration. At one point, the flames even encroached on the hillside above the Dolby Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards.
The fires have struck at the very heart of a movie industry still trying to stabilize itself after years of pandemic, labor turmoil and technological upheaval. Not for the first time this decade, the Oscars are facing the question of: Should the show go on? And if it does, what do they mean now?
"With ALL due respect during Hollywood's season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have gathered to victims of the fires and the firefighters," "Hacks" star Jean Smart, a recent Globe winner, wrote on Instagram.
The Oscars remain as scheduled, but it's certain that they will be transformed due to the wildfires, and that most of the red-carpet pomp that typically stretches between now and then will be curtailed if not altogether canceled. With so many left without a home by the fires, there's scant appetite for the usual self-congratulatory parades of the season.
Focus has turned, instead, to what the Oscars might symbolize for a traumatized Los Angeles. The Oscars have never meant less, but, at the same time, they might be more important than ever as a beacon of perseverance for the reeling movie capital.
The film academy... Read More