Ryan Lochte is the world’s second best known male swimmer. Nat Geo WILD’s SharkFest is the second best known shark extravaganza on television (getting underway on July 23 as a counter-programming competitor to Discovery Channel’s Shark Week).
Following the news that the world’s most famous swimmer, Olympian Michael Phelps, would be involved with Shark Week, Nat Geo WILD reached out to Lochte. The network then turned to director Jordan Brady of production house Superlounge to bring Lochte and SharkFest together in comedic fashion, yielding a tongue-in-cheek promo. The piece features Lochte and a “chum guy” in a teeny boat, throwing bait into the drink to attract sharks. Will Lochte jump into the drink as well?
“I saw the humor in having Ryan speaking to the chum guy and tapped my long-time collaborator Arsenal Creative to add CG shark fins,” said Brady. “The appearance of sharks was crucial. They nailed it. We shot on a boat with a jib arm to get the camera close to the picture boat. It had to look like we were in rough waters that were plausible for sharks.”
Particularly gratifying for Brady was the way he got the job. “The best way, maybe the only way, for a director to stay afloat in the current sea of sinking budgets is to have repeat clients,” he said. “My 2015 SharkFest collaboration with Nat Geo won the gold Promax (promo award) and got tons of notice. So to get a call directly from a creative client with the charge to start thinking creatively is refreshing. I spent less time making a glossy PDF and more time filmmaking for them.”
