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.”
Actor Gene Hackman, Wife Betsy Arakawa and Their Dog Were Dead For Some Time, Warrant Shows
Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple's Santa Fe home, according to investigators. Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office detectives wrote in a search warrant. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa. Denise Avila, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds. The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn't find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A sheriff's detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning. The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the best actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s. "He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss," his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday. Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife A maintenance worker reported that the home's front door was open when he arrived to do routine work on Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies, investigators said. He and... Read More