A bike-riding lad on his newspaper delivery route gets an eyeful of a nearby Corvette on the road and it’s love at first sight. As it turns out, this isn’t puppy love that’s destined to fade but rather a yearning which follows this boy through adulthood and beyond.
Life, though, tends to get in the way of the best laid plans as the money jar that our youngster sets up so he can save enough to one day buy his coveted Corvette has to be emptied repeatedly for more pressing matters over the years–to get a new bicycle after the first was damaged in an accident; to contribute to the rebuilding of a senior citizens’ center which was destroyed by fire; to buy an engagement ring for his bride-to-be; to take care of their baby; to buy teeth-straightening braces for his daughter.
Indeed the jar with the makeshift affixed “Corvette” label has the money in it put towards everything but his dream sporstcar–until finally when our boy is an elderly man who’s retired from his job and about to enjoy the good life.
With full jar in hand, he waits to cross the street to a local Chevrolet dealer. His dream tantalizingly within reach, he is stricken right then and there by a heart attack and drops at the corner, the glass jar falls and its contents spill out onto the sidewalk.
Fast forward and our senior citizen is next seen in the hereafter. And through the clouds of heaven, an outline of a car starts to emerge. It’s a brand new Corvette.
He gets behind the wheel and suddenly the old man becomes the youngster we originally saw upon his first encounter with the Corvette.
A supered message appears on screen which simply reads: “The dream never dies,” followed by the Chevrolet Corvette logo.
Spec path Titled “Corvette Heaven,” this approximately two-minute spec spot was directed by Rich Landes, who’s embarking on a full-fledged helming career via production house MJZ. In fact, at press time he had wrapped his first career real-world job, a comedy spot for HumorCode.com out of Grey New York.
The storyboard for “Corvette Heaven” came from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, and was originally intended to be a spot for this year’s Super Bowl. But the client didn’t go for it.
Still, Goodby partner/executive creative director Jamie Barrett (who has since left the agency) and copywriter Tyler McKeller wanted to see the commercial produced somehow, according to Landes who saw a potential opportunity for him to showcase his directorial prowess.
The advertising agency put feelers out to various companies and Landes’ presentation and commitment landed him the job–albeit for a budget that had been reduced to production on a spec shoestring.
“I dove into it and was averaging a shoot day every three weeks, tacking it onto other jobs to stay on budget,” related Landes.
Now “Corvette Heaven” is being considered by the client for possible purchase and use.
And the spec piece’s inclusion on Landes’ developing reel–which includes a prior literacy public service spot with a comedic twist–helped him garner the Grey N.Y. assignment for HumorCode.com.
Learning curve Landes has been on a spot directorial learning curve the past couple of years, after having served as a sitcom writer and stand-up comedian.
He had been in line to get a sitcom pilot picked up–which he was slated to direct–but when that fell through, Landes began exploring other options, spurred on by parenthood which had him wanting to stay closer to home, meaning he had to back off from his grueling, seemingly always on-the-road stand-up comedy schedule. Directing commercials intrigued him both practically and creatively.
Through a mutual friend, Landes met MJZ president/exec producer David Zander who helped put the spotmaking gears into motion.
“David liked my sensibilities and he’s been committed to helping me develop a directing career in commercials. I feel fortunate to have his support,” said Landes. “His emphasis is always do work that’s good. Don’t be tempted to take anything less just for the sake of working. When the chance to do the Corvette spec job came in, I knew this concept was the level of work David always has in mind.
“With David, there are no excuses,” continued Landes. “If the budget isn’t there, you have to somehow make it work. You do it or you don’t. So I went for it. I wrote a huge treatment and pled my case on the phone. That’s how it is–you have to plead to work for free. But it’s very much been worth it. I loved working on this project. I had the advantage of a great concept and being able to collaborate with really talented creatives.”
