Sea-Doo, the noted watercrafts company, has done more than just get its feet wet in branded content. Rather the company has immersed itself in a debut series of three short films from agency Cramer-Krasselt, Milwaukee, done in tandem with Venice, Calif.-based Backyard Productions and its sister shops, new media content house Seed and design studio Transistor Studios.
The initial short, Rusty Dogs, has premiered on a Sea-Doo Web site (www.seadoofilms.com)–with traffic being driven to that site by a commercial/trailer. Backyard’s Jeffrey Karoff, who first established himself in corporate films before making a successful transition into commercials, directed Rusty Dogs, with a cast that includes Eric Roberts, Chad Allen, Philip Anthony-Rodriguez and Jaimz Wolvett.
The action/adventure storyline of the nearly seven-and-a-half minute film centers on an international crime in the making on a boat. The villains’ plot, which entails kidnapping and smuggling, is thwarted by a band of reluctant-to-fight, former Navy Seals who operate Rusty’s, a watercraft service shop in the harbor. The battle-experienced ex-Seals are spurred into action by a shop employee, a nonmilitary, wet-behind-the-ears guy who’s gung ho for action. At first they’re reluctant to believe their eager, chomping-at-the-bit colleague that something sinister is taking place on the boat. However, when a Seal spies through binoculars some damsels in distress on board, the “rusty dogs” make their move.
What ensues is a rescue operation replete with good guys on jet-ski Sea-Doos, a high-speed chase, some tongue-in-cheek humor, a savvy diversion, and an ingenious dummy grenade ploy to get the villains to evacuate their boat. The heroes use no military weapons to achieve their mission; instead opting to use tools of the watercraft service shop trade like pliers, wire, and an audio loudspeaker system.
The short is based on a concept by Cramer-Krasselt, expounded upon by Karoff and DP Anghel Decca, who teamed to write the script via Seed. Transistor designed the Sea-Doo films’ Web site.
Karoff described Rusty Dogs as being “a pulpy 1980s style action adventure–Kelly’s Heroes meets MacGyver.” The director noted, “The film is part of the avant-garde of advertising, the ‘branded entertainment’ Web film. It comes into existence because a client has a product to sell–in this case, Sea-Doo watercraft. So it turns out that it’s the counterpart to product placement; it’s ‘story placement,” kind of Italian Job turned on its head. The client, who is sophisticated, knows how jaded the audience is and knows how much they prefer story to being sold to, so neither they, nor the agency, ever pushed for more products or product shots.”
The mindset in approaching the project, continued Karoff, was key. “Our producer, Danielle Schilling-Lovett,” he explained, “did the cult classic House of 1,000 Corpses. We tapped into her indie resources, including Pemrick/Fronk who did Corpses’ casting. Even though this gets produced in an advertising context, we were thinking of this all along in the indie, low budget vein, not the commercial mold.”
Even the Web site poster promoting the short smacks of the indie biz–the catch-line is “Their foxhole is the Pacific Ocean.”
The military wannabe in Rusty Dogs is played by Allen. Roberts portrays Rusty, the ring leader; his compatriots being played by Anthony-Rodriguez and Wolvett. “Eric Roberts is an archetype himself,” observes Karoff. “He just exudes cool, with a smoldering undercurrent. He had such a great career as a young actor, and I think he’s been underused for years. He’s due for a comeback. I hope his career does a John Travolta, without the Scientology.”
As for Allen, Karoff relates that the actor has “never had his more comedic sensibilities mined in film. Not that this is a comedy role, but he plays a bit of a fool, and he handles it with a full range of colors. I think he’s got a lot more range than he’s had an opportunity to express.”
Executive producer Blair Stribley noted that the project came together successfully in part because of the longstanding spotmaking relationship between Backyard and Cramer-Krasselt. The trust factor built up between the two shops over the years enabled them to dovetail successfully even when navigating through uncharted branded entertainment territory for the client. Beyond Rusty Dogs, Backyard is producing Sea-Doo’s second and third films, being directed by Michael Chaves and Tim Abshire, respectively. The Chaves-helmed short is titled Hijacked, and tells the story of a confrontation pitting a regular everyday guy against real-life pirates. The third short is titled Harbour Towne, depicting a day in the life of two families.
The creative contingent from Cramer-Krasselt consisted of executive creative director Mike Bednar, art director Matt Hermann, copywriter Brian Ganther, producer Michael Joyce, account supervisor Joe Fisher and account exec Darci Bandi. Karoff’s support team at Backyard included exec producer Stribley, producer Schilling-Lovett, head of production Peter Steinzeig, supervising producer Joanna Topetzes, and unit production manager Kevin Sharpton.
Editor was Bob Mori of Cake, Los Angeles. Visual effects compositor/CG artist was Cake’s Josh Kirschenbaum. Colorist was Jais Lamaire of Bobine Video, Santa Monica. Audio post mixer was Dave Wagg of Lime Studios, Santa Monica. Original, hard-driving music was composed by The Humble Brothers.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More