It was Wednesday (9/6), about 3 p.m., when I got the call. The folks at SAG wanted to know if I’d sign the interim talent agreement. They knew that we’d been casting talent for three "Got Milk?" spots. They may not have known, but had a pretty good idea, that the shoot was scheduled for the following week. It wouldn’t have taken much time in the business to figure out that we had over $1 million in production on the line.
Now, these people weren’t rude—highly assertive perhaps, but not unprofessional. They had a job to do. "Got Milk?" is arguably the best known, most beloved campaign around. Superb casting and acting are hallmarks of the work. And Goodby is not exactly a low-profile agency. So they probably figured that this was a pivotal moment in the negotiation process.
I had just one objective, and it had nothing to do with unions or agencies or strikes. My goal was to help produce three ball-busting "Got Milk?" spots, get one on the air within a couple of weeks and sell a few more gallons of milk. (Of course, as the Goodby folks know only too well, I am compulsive about selling more milk.) It really wasn’t all that tough a decision. Sign the interim agreement, use the best talent and produce the work. Sure, we’d spend a few more dollars on cable usage, but the money wasn’t a deciding factor. The other "win" for us was the assurance that the unions would support, rather than attempt to undermine, the production. So I signed. Not Goodby. Me.
The next potential hurdle was far more traditional and invasive in nature. We had a brand-new creative team at Goodby, and were using a director, Noam Murro [of Biscuit filmworks, Hollywood], that neither the agency nor I had worked with before. Judging by seven years and over 40 "Got Milk?" spots, this could have been a formula for disaster. Whose ego was going to inflate the fastest? Would the director try to make these "his spots," ignoring the creative team and acting as if I were a leper? Would the Goodby guys "suddenly" unearth new versions of the spots and attempt to slip them into the production? Or would I revert to an anal, client-as-director mode and create havoc with every scene and take?
None of the above. Noam, whose reel is full of really smart, funny spots, was a joy. Open, positive, humorous and exceptionally work intense, he actually sought out ideas from others. The creative team, Rick Casteel and John Matejczyk (that’s five consonants in a row) were terrific. They stayed super-glued to the spots, worked constantly to improve them and weren’t afraid to stand up for the work. We also got a great assist from the agency producer, David Yost, who was nearly as obsessed with the shooting boards as I was.
The sun shone, the crew built some amazing sets, the ants cooperated (that’s another story) and we shot for five straight days.
So, as Josh Billings said, "Success is not always a sure sign of merit, but it is a first-rate way to succeed."