This week’s entry in our “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery–Four Winds Casino’s “Breakfast” directed by Trevor Cornish of Santa Monica-based TWC–prompted us to take a closer look at Two By Four, the Chicago ad agency behind the spot and the overall campaign.
If it were in Las Vegas, Four Winds would be the second largest casino in that city. Based in New Buffalo, Mich., Four Winds Casino–due to its size and terra firma location–represents quite a departure from the Midwest norm of smaller gaming establishments, some of which are on barges.
With that in mind, recalled Two By Four creative director Dan Consiglio, “We told the client if anything you do feels like the other Midwest casinos, then it’s wrong…And that helped us get the client to take a creative leap with us on this campaign.”
Indeed it’s a creative leap towards the offbeat as “Breakfast” opens with three guys in cherry costumes spending a morning at home in the kitchen. One “cherry” is seated at a table eating cereal, another is right next to him reading a newspaper and doing its crossword puzzle and the third is at the refrigerator, putting some cream in his coffee. He carries his cup of java to the table and as soon as he sits down, putting the three cherry characters in a row, coins rain down on them.
When Cornish saw the storyboard for “Breakfast,” he instantly knew he wanted to direct the spot. “The concept was simple and smart–which is saying a lot for a storyline with a bunch of guys in fruit costumes,” he said.
While Two By Four has done some notable TV work this year for the Chicago White Sox–commercials done via Cutters, Chicago, and a four episode Wayne’s World-ish TV series, which was directed by Consiglio–the Four Winds campaign represents a television highlight for the agency. “We knew the concepts were good and wanted to go with a director and production company that could do them justice,” said Consiglio, who came over to Two By Four about a year ago after having served as a creative director at Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, where he worked with TWC director Jeff France on a Popeyes Chicken project.
Based on his favorable experience on Popeyes with TWC, Consiglio again looked to that production house, with Cornish catching his eye this time around. “Trevor has a strong comedy reel and was so enthusiastic about the campaign. He just understood the characters,” affirmed Consiglio. “He saw past the costumes–which in and of themselves were funny–and realized that if the actors would play their roles right, that’s what would take the commercials to the next level.”
Four Winds also afforded Two By Four and Cornish great creative freedom. “The client didn’t even come on the shoot,” said Consiglio. “How’s that for trust?” Furthermore, what were originally planned as three :15s became three :30s once the client saw the finished work.
Now more television is on the horizon for Two By Four, which was launched 10 years ago by the creative/business cofounding tandem of David Stevenson and Steve Kanney. (Stevenson was the lead creative on the earlier alluded to White Sox ads.) Currently on tap is a campaign for German global positioning system maker Navigon, the client’s first foray into television.
Hwang Dong-hyuk On Season 2 of “Squid Game,” Wrapping Production on Season 3; What’s Next?
Viewers may gasp, cringe or cry out watching characters die on Netflix's "Squid Game," but those simulated deaths have a different effect on its creator, writer and director. Instead, Hwang Dong-hyuk feels happiness seeing them go.
The show has a huge cast and Hwang says it was "really difficult" to manage everyone on set.
As characters would die, Hwang recalls saying to the actors on their last day, "'Oh no! How sad! I won't see you tomorrow,' but I was always smiling inside."
"Squid Game" season two premieres Thursday. It once again stars Lee Jung-jae and centers around a secret competition in South Korea that targets people in debt and the winner gets a big cash prize. What they don't know is that losing the game is deadly.
Hwang originally conceived of the show 15 years ago as a two-hour film but it failed to gain traction with financiers or even interested actors. He put it aside and worked on other films instead. He then had the idea to make it a TV series instead and took the project to Netflix. There, it could reach a wide audience.
"I never in my wildest dream thought it was going to be this huge," said Hwang, who spoke about the show and what comes next. Answers have been edited for clarity and length.
Q: What have you learned from "Squid Game"?
HWANG: I learned that I shouldn't give up. If you love something and if you want to create something, it might not work now, but the time might come later. Or that idea could be the source of inspiration for something else.
Q: You've already finished filming season three of "Squid Game." Have you thought about what your next project will be?
HWANG: I'm afraid to talk... Read More