Director David Shane’s first short film, Playdate, has a firm date to be played, earning inclusion into the short films program of the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival, which runs from April 17-28. SHOOT‘s look at the darkly comedic Playdate continues its Tribeca Preview series which has already included coverage of directors who, like Shane, have commercialmaking chops yet will be showcasing their longer form prowess at the festival. We have already delved into Oxyana, the feature directorial debut of Sean Dunne (SHOOTonline, 3/8) who’s repped by Nonfiction Unlimited for commercials and branded content; Adult World, a feature helmed by Scott Coffey (SHOOT, 3/22) whose spot/branded fare roost is Food Chain Films; and the short Space Cadet (SHOOTonline, 3/29) directed by Paul Riccio who is repped for commercials and branded content by Sandwick Media.
Additionally, last week (SHOOTonline 4/5) we explored Likeness, the directorial debut of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC, who shot this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner, Argo. An accomplished feature DP, Prieto has also lensed assorted commercials over the years. (And Little Minx handles him as a director of commercials, branded content and music videos.)
Shane is known for his broad range of comedy in the ad arena but he wanted to go a bit darker in terms of humor for Playdate. He reveled in feedback from Sharon Badal, Tribeca’s head short film programmer, who told him that she loved the film and hated all the characters in it. Playdate introduces us to Paul and Kate who excitedly arrive for dinner at the home of a cool couple (Tom and Ellen) from their kids’ school, only to discover an interloping third couple (Steven and Lydia) already in attendance, putting more than a damper on the evening.
“Paul has a man crush on Tom while Kate is in awe of Ellen,” related Shane. “Then you have Steven and Lydia who are super attractive, stylish and quite English. It all boils down to Paul and Kate’s increasingly horrifying attempts to ingratiate themselves with Tom and Ellen. The short is about that fact that it doesn’t matter how old or experienced or confident you are. We are still all kind of like children in the playground when it comes to social settings.”
Frustration as motivation
Shane wrote Playdate with Scott Organ who also stars as Paul. Spurring the director to embark on his first short was the frustration entailed in getting feature projects off the ground. “This short was an antidote to having to wait a prolonged stretch for a feature,” explained Shane. “I’ve had casting and financing come together and fall apart on two features. Out of that process, I figured why not stop waiting and so something, which resulted in Playdate.”
Accustomed to the :30 spot format, Shane found the eight minutes of Playdate to be “a luxury…It was refreshing to do something that could last the natural life of the joke or the beat of the moment without being confined to a matter of seconds.”
Shane assembled many of his commercial compatriots for Playdate, including the actors, editor Gavin Cutler of Mackenzie Cutler, and DP Sebastian Pfaffenbichler. “We built up this family over the years shooting commercials and it was great to bring this same crew together for the film,” Shane affirmed.
The director was also gratified that Playdate is playing at Tribeca. “I’m a big fan of the festival. It’s always so smartly programmed and super watchable–a great mix of mainstream and quirkier stuff that you wouldn’t probably see otherwise. Plus, it’s my hometown festival which makes it that much more special. I’m excited to see Playdate with a crowd of film-goers. Up until now,” quipped Shane, “I’ve only screened it for my extended family and they didn’t like it that much.”
Shane’s mainstream commercialmaking endeavors continue at production house O Positive. His recent body of work includes a Time Warner Cable spot centering on The Walking Dead for Ogilvy & Mather, New York; a New York Lottery commercial featuring Andy Richter for DDB New York; more ESPN SportsCenter fare for Wieden+Kennedy, New York; and a dark and edgy Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies campaign out of Y&R, New York. At press time, Shane was about to direct another Time-Warner Cable spot for Ogilvy, this one centered on the TV show Revenge.
See next week’s SHOOT print issue and >e.dition for more on Tribeca, including a feature documentary from two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple (who directs spots and branded content via Nonfiction Unlimited) and a transmedia project from director Chris Milk (whose spot/branded content roost is @radical.media).
