By MILLIE TAKAKI
Picture a robot in the heart of a ’40’s movie and you have the strange, humorous mix of nostalgia and the futuristic embodied in a spec spot for Coca-Cola conceived and directed by Jim Byrkit, who was recently signed by Santa Monica-based Atlas Pictures for commercial representation. Byrkit also continues to be involved in Steam, a Santa Monica production/post studio he helped form.
Aptly entitled "Robot," the piece-produced by Atlas in association with Steam-is set in the ’40s and opens on a party in the dining car of a fast-moving train. The festivities appear to be a homecoming for World War II soldiers as they and their gals whoop it up to the beat of swing music. The camera turns our attention to an army officer and his girl seated in a dining car booth. "You said you’d wait for me, Rosie," he says disappointedly.
"It’s been a year. You never wrote," she responds. As explanation for the lack of correspondence, he simply shrugs and holds up his two bandaged hands.
"Nicky’s been good to me, Tony," she attempts to explain. "We’re getting m … " She falls short of completing her sentence with the dreaded "m" word, "married." But the pending nuptials are evident as we see an engagement ring on her finger-albeit, a crude, makeshift ring topped by a lugnut.
The lugnut, though, suddenly makes sense when Rosie’s fiance-seated next to her in the booth-is revealed to be a robot outfitted with a sailor’s hat. This tin-hearted Romeo looks like a reject from a hardware store, made from a collection of nuts, bolts and well-worn metal.
Rosie asks her robot to order a couple of Cokes. A sailor and his gal stop by the table; the guy looks at Tony in disbelief and asks, "Is this the dame that left you for … " Struggling to come up with a tactful way to end his sentence, the sailor finally refers to the robot as "the enlisted guy."
Disgusted, Tony gets up from the table and walks away. "See you around, Rose." Just then, the waiter comes by with the two Cokes in ice-filled glasses. Tony tells the waiter that "the lady likes her Coke in a bottle, with a straw." As Tony is about to make his way out of the crowded dining car, the waiter gives Rosie a bottle of Coke. She looks lovingly at the bottle and blurts out, "Tony DeFranco, I love you." She rushes toward him, they embrace and kiss.
After a quick cutaway to a Coke logo and some swing musicians playing their chops on the train, we then see the robot sitting alone at the booth-but not for long. An attractive blonde woman sits down next to him, offering the icebreaker line, "Hi there, sailor."
Byrkit was backed by a team that included: executive producers Sharn Stinson Ure and Sterling Ray, as well as producer Tom Cline of Atlas; and producers Scott Bryant and Tammy Kimbler from Steam. The DP was Richard Michalak.
"Robot" was edited by freelancer Luis Ruiz on an Avid at Atlas. Online editing, visual effects and graphics were handled by Bryant and Kimbler on Steam’s Media 100 and graphics system. Telecine artist was Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3, Santa Monica. Audio mixer was Rob Feist of RavensWork, Venice, Calif.
Sound designer was Mike Johnson of Machine Head, Venice, with some original music from composer Michael Sherwood of bicoastal Elias Associates.
Joby Harris was responsible for construction of the robot. Skip Moore and Jana Rosenblatt were production designer and costume designer, respectively.
Jury Presidents Named For The One Show 2025
The One Club for Creativity has announced the global creatives from around the world who will serve as jury presidents for The One Show 2025.
These creatives will lead judging for each discipline, and have a vote on the work.
Confirmed One Show 2025 Jury presidents, by discipline, are as follows:
--Brand-Side/In-House: David Lee, CCO, Squarespace, New York
--Branded Entertainment: Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO, Cheil Worldwide, London
--Creative Use of Data, Creative Use of Technology: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, CCO, FCB Canada, Toronto
--Cultural Driver: Bianca Guimaraes, partner, ECD, Mischief, New York
--Design: Liza Enebeis, creative director, partner, Studio Dumbar/DEPT®, Rotterdam
--Direct Marketing: Vicki Maguire, CCO, Havas London
--Film & Video: Javier Campopiano, global CCO, McCann Worldgroup & McCann Global, Madrid
--Gaming: Taj Reid, global chief experience officer, US CCO, Edelman, New York
--Integrated, Experiential & Immersive: Chris Beresford-Hill, worldwide CCO, BBDO New York
--Fusion Pencil: Walter T. Geer III, CCO, Innovation North America, VML, New York
--Green Pencil: Barbara Humphries, ECD, The Monkeys, Sydney
--Health & Wellness, Pharma: Wendy Lund, chief client officer, WPP, New York
--IP & Product Design: Ronald Ng, global CCO, MRM, New York
--Moving Image Craft & Production: Irene Kugelmann, chief creative officer, DDB Group of Companies Germany, Berlin
--Music & Sound Craft: Joel Simon, CCO, JSM Music, New York
--Out of Home, Print & Promotional: Kainaz Karmakar, CCO, Ogilvy India, Mumbai
--Public Relations: Patricia Ávila, regional director for Latin America, Ágora, São Paulo
--Radio... Read More