Beacon Street meshes score with Elvis Presley’s "It’s Now Or Never" for Jose Cuervo Tequila, CP+B LA
By A SHOOT Staff Report
Ad agency CP+B LA conceptualized for client Jose Cuervo tequila this two-minute online video—from which a :60 for national TV has been culled—depicting how bar customers choose to spend their last moments when civilization crumbles around them. As the impending doom worsens outside in a most cinematic way, the party crowd brings the "Tomorrow is Overrated" campaign message to life by doubling down on their music, dancing and drinking.
Ringan Ledwidge of Rattling Stick directed "Last Days" which features a man and woman who come together even as the bar is being ripped apart by a tornado and other forces of nature. He selects on the jukebox "It’s Now Or Never" performed by Elvis Presley. A nearby lass is inspired to join the gent to figuratively face the music and literally dance.
"This campaign bluntly points out that whatever awaits us tomorrow might not be that great of a reason to miss out the fun you could be having tonight," said Kevin Jones, chief creative officer, CP+B LA. "And with all the uncertainty there is in the world now, this message seems particularly relevant."
Adam Arkapaw, ACS lensed "Last Days," with visual effects from Electric Theatre Collective (ETC), Santa Monica, Calif.
The CP+B creative ensemble included Jones, creative director Paddy Fraser, associate creative director/art director Jeff Dryer, associate creative director/copywriter Andrew Jasperson, VP/executive integrated producer Aymi Beltramo, integrated producer Jennifer Malki, and music supervisor Andy Hamm.
Beacon Street Studios in Venice, Calif., served as music house, with sound design and audio post by Lime Studios.
Anerew Feltenstein and John Nau were the Beacon Street composers, working with a Presley rendition of "It’s Now or Never."
Mark Meyuhas of Lime was both sound designer and audio post mixer.
Beacon Street
Composers Feltenstein and Nau said that among the prime creative challenges they experienced on the job was seamlessly integrating their version of the song with the original Elvis track, making the actors sound as if they were a part of the song without making it sound like a Broadway show while also synching up the piano part to make it look like the female bar patron was actually playing.
Feltenstein and Nau got their sound to complement "It’s Now Or Never" by paying close attention to the original piano sound, citing director Ledwidge as providing helpful guidance.
CP+B and Ledwidge brought Nau and Feltenstein in before the shoot to help flush out the idea musically. The demo was to be used as a guide on set to sing to. But after the piece was shot, the Beacon Street team went back to redo the music and match the way the piano player moved and performed. Beacon Street also re-recorded all of the actors singing. Both Feltenstein and Nau described the spot as a cool project that they were both psyched to be a part of.
Executive producers for Beacon Street Studios and Lime Studios were, respectively, Adrea Lavezzoli and Susie Boyajan.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More