“We’re always looking for things that are a little different,” Richard Farmer, half of the directing duo Happy responds when asked what attracts him and partner Guy Shelmerdine to a spot job. That’s certainly evident by their work. While the naughty Brawny paper towels spot “Happy Birthday” out of Fallon, New York, finds an oh-so-gorgeous and remarkably evolved Brawny man baking a cake for “dear Mrs. Parker,” its follow-up for cinema, the somewhat homoerotic “Birthday Dream,” has a jealous husband confronting the giant–but gentle–Brawny man in his dreams. Meanwhile, “Dog Breath,” one of Happy’s earlier efforts for Wrigley’s Xcite chewing gum via AMV BBDO, London, was ultimately pulled from British TV after viewers complained about how gross it was: the spot illustrates the problem of morning breath by depicting a man throwing up a dog.
These spots–like other Happy concoctions–are outrageously funny, but are equally impressive visually, with effects that are flawless in their execution. According to Shelmerdine, Happy will not take on a job–one requiring effects in particular–unless he and Farmer are sure that they can achieve the desired result. “I think our philosophy–as cheesy as it sounds–has always been to keep our clients and the people we work with happy,” explains Shelmerdine. “When we go into a job, it’s very hard for us to go into something thinking that at the end of it people aren’t going to be satisfied. So we wouldn’t go into an effects job without proper planning even it was a great idea and something that would be for a great brand. If it’s not doable correctly, it’s not worth doing.”
At the moment, by the way, Happy is prepping for a commercial shoot that will take place underwater. Both Shelmerdine and Farmer see the assignment as an opportunity for them to learn something new, and they have immersed themselves in the project. “We’re learning everything there is to know about diving and shooting underwater, how lenses and light work under water,” Shelmerdine says.
“And water filtration and temperature. There are so many things that go into shooting underwater,” Farmer adds, noting, “We’re using the tank they built for Titanic. We’re kind of walking in the footsteps of James Cameron, going through all the things he had to go through. It’s pretty interesting.”
If Shelmerdine and Farmer sound a little geeky, well, they admit that they are. “We were directors’ nerds when we were on the agency side,” says Farmer, who once worked with Shelmerdine at Ground Zero, Marina del Rey, Calif., where they were producer and art director, respectively. “As a producer or a creative, you have your stack of heroes that you pine away for, hoping you get to work with them.”
“I was lucky to work with Traktor a lot,” chimes in Shelmerdine, referring to the directing collective from bicoastal/international Partizan. “And they’ve definitely had an influence on us and been an inspiration because they are by far the best directors in the world right now.”
Shelmerdine also cites talents like Dante Ariola of bicoastal/international MJZ, and Jake Scott of bicoastal RSA USA as inspirations. Working on the agency side of the commercialmaking business “was a great school, if you will, watching other guys, how they built their careers,” Farmer notes. One of the biggest lessons Shelmerdine and Farmer gleaned was the importance of careful spot selection. “The [directors] who choose the right creative last longer,” states Farmer. “They just build and build and build whereas there are people who start right off the bat doing money jobs, and soon you don’t know who those people are anymore.”
In addition to working on spots (recent credits include a Fuse campaign out of Amalgamated, New York, that included the ads “Rabbit,” “Fryer” and “Above Ground Pool” ), Happy has also just completed their first-ever short film. Titled Jane Lloyd, it premiered at Res Fest 2005 in New York last month, and has been accepted for showing in numerous film festivals. The short tells the story of a woman’s life from birth through death by inventively linking events through the use of her name as it appears on everything from her birth certificate to her driver’s license. “It came from an idea we had for a music video that never got bought,” explains Shelmerdine. “Basically, what we were trying to do was to tell a story with somebody’s name.”
Without giving too much away, ultimately, the story of Jane Lloyd’s life takes a tragic turn. “I don’t think when we stared the project we intended the story to be that emotional,” Shelmerdine shares. “It was certainly a departure from kind of comedy we do. This was darker and more emotional.”
Judging by their body of work, including Jane Lloyd, it seems inevitable that Happy, who have been shooting spots for about four years now, will one day branch out into feature filmmaking. But, interestingly, the guys aren’t in a rush to make that leap. “We’ve talked about it, but the thing about commercials is they are so fun to do,” Farmer says, “and we’re nowhere near where we want to get with them yet, so all our focus is on commercials right now.”