To support Skin Cancer Awareness Month in May, Olay is running a video public service announcement (psa) online that shows a nearly naked man receiving a skin exam on the streets of New York, where passersby smile or in some cases walk on by with barely a notice.
“Watching them not react at all was the funniest part of it all,” said Peter Ostella, senior producer at Saatchi & Saatchi/NY, which created “Street Screenings”. Bicoastal/international Believe Media was the production company.
“You imagine they’d be more shocked,” said Whitey McConnaughy, Believe’s director, who said citizens of any city besides New York would have been.
They would have been shocked to see a grown man on the sidewalk of a major city in his underwear, which occurs in the film, as the man receives the skin exam from a doctor, who is fully dressed in a white lab coat. The man giggles as the doctor examines him and hugs him in the end, which establishes the goal of the film–to promote skin exams. “The notion of putting him on the streets nearly naked is mortifying to some, but what’s more mortifying is if you don’t get a skin exam,” Ostella said.
McConnaughy used Panasonic DVX100 cameras for the shoot, using two to shoot pedestrian reactions, with one positioned across the street from the skin exam. Shooting the main action from across the street was done “to show where it was in relation to the city,” McConnaughy said. Another camera was hidden in the doctor’s office area shooting out, he noted.
Actors were hired to do the two main parts. “I gave them direction for each take, then we took a break and did another take with subtle changes,” he said.
The soundtrack is an orchestral instrumental piece from a band called Spain Colored Orange.
Barney Miller, who edited the film for Company X/NY, said, “We got great takes of the actors mixed with great reactions to make an entertaining PSA.”
The 1:22 PSA runs at www.skincancertakesfriends.com, which is sponsored by Olay. It also plays at YouTube and :30 and :15 versions of it run as pre-rolls and post-rolls at ABC.com and other sites, Ostella said.
Director Hans Emanuel Joins Caviar For Commercials and Music Videos
Production company Caviar has signed director Hans Emanuel for U.S. commercial and music video representation. The film and advertising director fuses his keen--and Berlinale Film Festival Award-winning--eye for cinematic storytelling with a commercial background across multiple genres including beauty, automotive, dance, and visual effects-heavy projects, to produce creative for clients like Kia, Nivea, Nissan, L’Oreal, BMW and more.
Caviar executive producer Salim El Arja noted, “Hans has a unique ability to blend stunning visuals with heart and humor, rooted in his confidence as a craftsman. This allows him to focus on drawing exceptional performances from actors--including celebrities--and crafting films that are not only visually striking but also deeply engaging and often hilariously comedic. His sensibilities align perfectly with Caviar’s vision, and we’re excited to collaborate with him on work that pushes creative boundaries.”
Emanuel added, “Caviar is a renowned name, certainly since I began my career. They have a solid reputation for quality work, and I’ve always respected them as a company. Life is about where destiny makes you flow with the people you need; thanks to a series of projects, I was introduced to Florence Jacob with Caviar Paris first, and the rest is history. I feel they can support my career growth with their comedic expertise and filmmaking prowess.”
Prior to joining Caviar, Emanuel had been repped by production house Stadium. He was born and raised in Santa Monica, Calif., to a Mexican-German mother, benefiting from a culturally diversified upbringing that carried through his education interests. Knowing he wanted to be a filmmaker from the start, he began his career in the luxury and beauty field,... Read More