Atticus Ross and Ren Klyce continue to collaborate with David Fincher--this time on a Super Bowl spot directed by Adam Hashemi
By A SHOOT Staff Report
While it can’t compare to an Oscar, scoring the #1 slot in SHOOT’s quarterly Top Ten Tracks Chart to kick off the new year is still yet another feather in the cap of composer Atticus Ross. A Best Original Score Oscar winner in 2011, along with compatriot Trent Reznor, for The Social Network, Ross last month picked up his second and third career Academy Award nominations–for the Original Scores for Soul (with colleagues Reznor and Jon Batiste) and Mank (in tandem with Reznor).
Like The Social Network and Mank, the SHOOT Chart-topping “Let’s Grab A Beer” for Anheuser-Busch InBev entailed collaborating with David Fincher. (Fincher directed The Social Network and Mank, and served as EP on “Let’s Grab A Beer”) The Fincher-Ross collaborative relationship has indeed proven noteworthy across short and long-form content.
But “Let’s Grab A Beer” carries another artist connection between the Academy Awards and our Top Ten Tracks Chart. The sound designer/mixer on the Anheuser Busch InBev Super Bowl commercial was Ren Klyce, a long-time collaborator with Fincher. Last month Klyce earned his eighth and ninth career Best Sound Oscar nominations–for Soul and Mank. The latter marks the sixth Oscar nod that Klyce has garnered for a Fincher-directed film–the other five being for Fight Club in 2000, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2009, The Social Network in 2011, and two for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sound Mixing, Sound Editing) in 2012.
Ross worked on “Let’s Grab A Beer” via music and sound house Barking Owl in West Los Angeles, teaming with that shop’s creative director Kelly Bayett. Klyce independently served as sound designer/mixer. Adam Hashemi directed the spot through bicoastal production company RESET for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Cheers
The 90-second commercial is a series of touching and humorous vignettes that show people coming together over a beer. We see a woman being included in a business meeting, her talent being sought out unexpectedly as she’s handed a bottle of beer as a welcome to join the decision-making process. A guy carrying out of the office his belongings stuffed in a box is cheered when a co-worker flags him down at the elevator to go grab a beer. A friend consoles another at a funeral with a nonverbal invite to have a beer. In addition to corporate employees, working professionals in a restaurant, musicians and varied others bond over a brew.
As the ad comes to a close, we’re reminded, “It’s never just about the beer. It’s about being together.” That’s a message that resonates arguably more than ever during a pandemic marked by lockdowns which have isolated so many of us. And to have that message reach and unite a vast audience on Super Bowl Sunday adds all the more to its relevance and bringing people together to share and enjoy
Reflecting on the Big Game commercial, Ross told SHOOT, “Although the challenge of making music for advertising is, at times, serving several masters at one time, I think we were able to thread the needle on ‘Let’s Grab a Beer’ to create a piece that felt organically tied to the picture, the emotion and the storytelling that satisfied all parties. It didn’t hurt to be surrounded by the uppermost talent in the field–if I drank, whilst listening to Ren’s mix, I may have even celebrated by ‘grabbing a beer.’”
Klyce too has a track record with Fincher that spans short and long-form fare. Klyce did the music and sound on the very first commercial that Fincher directed, the American Cancer Society’s “Smoking Fetus.” Years later the two teamed on Coca-Cola’s “Blade Roller” spot (an homage to Blade Runner). And then there was Nike’s “Magazine Wars” in which people pictured on magazine covers at a newssstand come to life and engage in a raucous game of tennis. The spot won a Clio, helped bring Klyce into prominence as a sound designer and began his track record of notable work with Wieden+Kennedy for not only Fincher but other filmmakers such as Spike Jonze (including Nike’s Emmy-winning “The Morning After” spot; Klyce’s collaborations with Jonze also include the big screen with Where The Wild Things Are and Her).
Beyond assorted films and spots, Klyce has worked with Fincher on such TV series as House of Cards and Mindhunters.
To see the quarterly Top Ten Tracks Chart, click here.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More