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.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
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