A man drives his car into a garage and asks for an oil change. The mechanic pops open the hood, revealing a sad, sluggish, seemingly depressed bald man who is the human embodiment of the automobile’s engine.
The mechanic diagnoses the problem quickly, noting that since this is a Flex car, the oil should be Castrol GTX Ecoflex. He goes over to get the special oil which takes the form of a long flowing black wig.
The mechanic then places the wig on the bald man’s head and an immediate change in attitude is evident. The “engine” man is suddenly energetic and happy, playing air guitar, pumping his fist in celebratory fashion. He’s so happy he even sheds a tear which the mechanic wipes from his eye using a rag. The “engine” guy blows his nose after fighting back some joyful crying.
The mechanic then closes the car’s hood, confident that the new supercharged engine is peppy and ready to go.
This offbeat spot was directed by the mono-monickered helmer Lemon at Hungry Man, Brazil, for Ogilvy & Mather, Sao Paulo.
The Ogilvy team included VP creative Anselmo Ramos, creative director/copywriter Fred Saldanha, art director Bob Kincey, writers Hugo Veiga and Megan Farquhar and producers Nana Bitencourt and Rafael Messias.
Alex Mehedff and Renata Dumont exec produced for Hungry Man, with Rodrigo Castelo serving as production manager. The DP was Pablo Derecho. Production designer was Gabriella Valverde.
Hungry Man Brazil’s Fernando Vidor was the editor, Rodrigo Oliveira the postproduction supervisor and Mariana Sixel the post coordinator.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles.
Nakamura Whitehouse, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years.
Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation.
EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.”
Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.”
34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More