For director Eric Heimbold, whose spotmaking roost is Venice, Calif.-based Wild Plum, the third spec spot proved to be the charm. Not that the first two weren’t successful in their own right, the first being an ambitious car job for Nissan based on a concept from creatives at TBWAChiatDay, and the next being a comedy spot, “Strip Poker,” for Centrum Silver Vitamins that earned inclusion a couple of years ago into SHOOT’s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery (4/27/07).
But Heimbold’s latest spec endeavor, an entry into the Doritos’ “Crash The Super Bowl” contest, scored a major coup in the form of $3 million ad slot in this year’s Big Game telecast on NBC. Though it didn’t win the contest, Heimbold’s “Power of the Crunch” spot generated enough buzz among online voters and presumably within Doritos’ parent company Pepsico/Frito-Lay that the decision was made to air the commercial on Super Sunday. “Power of the Crunch” not only finished second in the Doritos contest (from nearly 2,000 submissions), but also earned the number five slot in the high-profile USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter.
Heimbold’s spot, which he both conceptualized and directed, is a comedic yet cautionary tale centered on the theme of ultimate power ultimately corrupting the person who wields it. A young man enjoying a bag of Doritos finds that his every wish comes true. He takes a bite of Doritos and a sudden gust of wind blows the clothes off of an attractive woman walking down a city street, reducing her attire to frilly undergarments.
The next bite of Doritos causes an ATM machine to spew out cash to our guy as well as bystanders.
A policeman then arrives on the scene but before he can restore order, another chomp of Doritos results in the law enforcement officer being transformed into a monkey.
As our Doritos-crunching protagonist revels in his new found power, he finds that his bag of chips is empty, at which point he is run over by a fast-moving bus.
Heimbold put together a grass-roots crew of colleagues, called in favors, and pretty much self-financed the spot, getting extensive production support from Wild Plum. Among the other key contributors was Los Angeles-based SIM Video, which donated a RED digital camera and top flight lenses.
This was Heimbold’s first RED experience and he was favorably impressed with the results during a one-day shoot in downtown Los Angeles. The director worked with cinematographer Tony Molina.
The Wild Plum ensemble included executive producer Shelby Sexton, line producer Ted Robbins and head of production Sandy Haddad.
Editor was Oliver Power, with Dan Perse serving as lead effects artist.
By his spot being voted one of the five Doritos contest finalists, Heimbold was awarded $25,000. (The contest winner, “Free Doritos,” wound up finishing first in the USA Today Super Bowl poll, earning its creator Joe Herbert a Doritos bonus of $1 million.)
While Heimbold is an up-and-coming talent, he is no stranger to having his work showcased before mega TV audiences. He has directed three seasons worth of music videos for American Idol. That’s a total of some 36 clips featuring Idol performers.
This Idol fare was conceptualized, shot and produced in an extremely tight-turnaround time, constantly requiring Heimbold to adapt while not compromising the quality of the final work within the constraints of challenged budgets.
“In many respects that has been a great training ground for me, a trial by fire,” said Heimbold of the Idol experience, which spans seasons three, five and six of the hit series. (Season three being the first in which the show stopped in-house producing the clips.)
Heimbold’s high level of performance on the Idol clips translated into his getting the chance to direct a Ford spot featuring Idol winner Taylor Hicks for JWT Detroit.
Heimbold’s filmography also encompasses music videos such as The Baja Men’s “Who Let The Dogs Out?” and the Brian Setzer Orchestra’s “Jump, Jive and Wail.”
Now Heimbold is poised through Wild Plum to step up his spotmaking involvement, particularly in light of his Super Bowl debut through the “Power of the Crunch.”
Review: Director Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked”
It's the ultimate celebrity redemption tour, two decades in the making. In the annals of pop culture, few characters have undergone an image makeover quite like the Wicked Witch of the West.
Oh, she may have been vengeful and scary in "The Wizard of Oz." But something changed — like, REALLY changed — on the way from the yellow brick road to the Great White Way. Since 2003, crowds have packed nightly into "Wicked" at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre to cheer as the green-skinned, misunderstood Elphaba rises up on her broomstick to belt "Defying Gravity," that enduring girl-power anthem.
How many people have seen "Wicked"? Rudimentary math suggests more than 15 million on Broadway alone. And now we have "Wicked" the movie, director Jon M. Chu's lavish, faithful, impeccably crafted (and nearly three-hour) ode to this origin story of Elphaba and her (eventual) bestie — Glinda, the very good and very blonde. Welcome to Hollywood, ladies.
Before we get to what this movie does well (Those big numbers! Those costumes!), just a couple thornier issues to ponder. Will this "Wicked," powered by a soulful Cynthia Erivo (owner of one of the best singing voices on the planet) and a sprightly, comedic, hair-tossing Ariana Grande, turn even musical theater haters into lovers?
Tricky question. Some people just don't buy into the musical thing, and they should be allowed to live freely amongst us. But if people breaking into song delights rather than flummoxes you, if elaborate dance numbers in village squares and fantastical nightclubs and emerald-hued cities make perfect sense to you, and especially if you already love "Wicked," well then, you will likely love this film. If it feels like they made the best "Wicked" movie money could buy — well, it's... Read More