Director Trevor Robinson of London-based Quiet Storm is gaining notice in the U.S. for his work with kids in spots for PeerLogic and Toysrus.com.
But before you pigeonhole him a director of kid-oriented fare, think again. Robinson doesn’t consider himself a kids’ specialist. "It’s a domino effect," he says. "People see one spot with kids in it, and they think of you for that kind of work."
That’s not to say he doesn’t want to work with kids. If the concept of a spot is clever and casting calls for little ones, that’s fine with Robinson. He found himself working with lots of little ones on a recent series of spots for software firm PeerLogic. Created by Camp/Arbues, San Francisco, the ads find a group of children being entertained on the colorful set of a kiddie show. The genial host promises the children a happy, fun time—that is, as long as they make sure their parents are using PeerLogic products.
In "Disappointed," the host asks the children—all of whom are feasting on ice cream cones—who among them have told their "CEO mummies and daddies" about PeerLogic. The kids raise their hands excitedly and shout, "Me." When he asks who didn’t tell their parents, one little girl raises her hand. The host proceeds to grab her by the hand and drag her off the set, to the horror of the other children. As if that weren’t enough, he takes her away her ice cream, too.
In "Magic Box," the host encourages the children to get their parents to buy business-integrated software from PeerLogic. "It comes in a neato box," he says. The happy children are shown soaring through the sky in the PeerLogic box. What happens to children who don’t tell their parents to buy PeerLogic products? "If you don’t, it won’t be a happy, fun time," the host warns. Cut to a shot of a little girl mopping a kitchen floor, who sadly says, "I don’t want to do this."
Working with the children in these spots, which also included "Monster" and "Pony," was certainly challenging, reports Robinson. "Their attention span is a lot shorter than ours, and they get tired a lot quicker," he notes. "So everybody on the set had to really help me out. It was all about trying to create a relaxed environment." (Robinson says he spent more time working with the adult actor, Geoffrey Hayes, who hosts a kiddie show in the U.K. called Rainbow. "He couldn’t remember his lines," Robinson explains.)
Shooting the Toysrus.com spot "Raincheck" via Leo Burnett Co., Chicago, was actually less complicated, because Robinson mainly dealt with one little boy. The ad finds the kid playing with his raincheck. Turns out his parents were unable to get him the toy he wanted.
The spot opens with the boy on the couch watching TV with his raincheck. "This is funny. Do you like it, raincheck? You’re my favorite friend," the boy says. Later, the boy plays with the raincheck in his yard as two other kids look on in disbelief. A voiceover asks parents why their child should settle for a raincheck when the toys kids want can be easily found on Toysrus.com.
team effort
Both the PeerLogic and Toysrus. com jobs were among Robinson’s first in the states. (Last year, the director helmed Hotjobs’ "Security Guard," out of McCann-Erickson,
