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.
House Calls Via TV and Streamers: A Rundown of The Season’s Doctor Dramas
No matter your ailment, there are plenty of TV doctors waiting to treat you right now on a selection of channels and streamers.
Whether it's Noah Wyle putting on his stethoscope for the first time since "ER," Morris Chestnut graduating to head doctor, Molly Parker making her debut in scrubs or Joshua Jackson trading death for life on a luxury cruise, new American hospital dramas have something for everyone.
There's also an outsider trying to make a difference in "Berlin ER," as Haley Louise Jones plays the new boss of a struggling German hospital's emergency department. The show's doors slide open to patients Wednesday on Apple TV+.
These shows all contain the DNA of classic hospital dramas — and this guide will help you get the TV treatment you need.
"Berlin ER"
Dr. Suzanna "Zanna" Parker has been sent to run the Krank, which is only just being held together by hardened — and authority-resistant — medical staff and supplies from a sex shop. The result is an unflinching drama set in an underfunded, underappreciated and understaffed emergency department, where the staff is as traumatized as the patients, but hide it much better.
From former real-life ER doc Samuel Jefferson and also starring Slavko Popadić, Şafak Şengül, Aram Tafreshian and Samirah Breuer, the German-language show is not for the faint of heart.
Jones says she eventually got used to the blood and gore on the set.
"It's gruesome in the beginning, highly unnerving. And then at some point, it's just the most normal thing in the world," she explains. "That's flesh. That's the rest of someone's leg, you know, let's just move on and have coffee or whatever."
As it's set in the German clubbing capital, the whole city... Read More