It’s unusual for an agency producer to spend his entire career at one firm. But such is the case for Greg Popp, a senior VP/executive producer at DDB Chicago, who joined the agency 14 years ago. Popp works primarily on Budweiser and has produced many of its popular Super Bowl ads, including "Rex." The spot features an acting dog on the set of a western who just can’t seem to cry, thus ruining a crucial take. The director encourages him to think back to his worst day, and the pup finds the motivation to cry in remembering an encounter with a Budweiser truck that got away. The commercial, which was ranked number one on USA Today’s Ad Meter poll of Super Sunday ads, was helmed by the Norwegian directing team Roenberg—a.k.a. Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg—who are repped in the U.S. by Santa Monica-based Public Works, a satellite of bicoastal HKM Productions.
The team, who just recently began directing in the U.S., was brought to Popp’s attention by Chicago-based independent rep Renee Case. "I was immediately caught by the type of thing I look for in a reel: visual storytelling, exciting camerawork, clever transitions and just the right tonality," explains Popp. "We assume we can fill in the rest, regardless of whether they’ve ever done an American spot or a beer ad."
"I think about what we as an agency, and having experience with Budweiser, can contribute to a production," he continues. "We can help steer casting, we can recognize the sort of people who are likable in a Bud spot and can recognize a funny performance. We can help with the shooting board and we can help create a story that makes sense and is the right length. We can suggest visual styles and directions. But what we can’t do is give someone the innate sense of how to move the camera and tell a story visually—you either got it or you don’t."
Popp recalls he knew Roenberg could think on their feet when they suggested the addition of a western set with such elements as a stagecoach on fire and a woman screaming and fainting. He relates that "[Roenberg] said the more the opening shot is like Spielberg’s invasion of Normandy—the more a million things had to be put into motion, the greater the stakes, and the bigger a failure the shot is when the dog doesn’t do what he’s supposed to."
Popp has the distinction of also producing USA Today’s number one and two-ranked spots of the ’99 Super Bowl: "Separated at Birth," directed by Buddy Cone of Palomar Pictures, Los Angeles, and "Lobster," helmed by David McNally of bicoastal Omaha Pictures. ("Lobster" also won a Silver Lion at Cannes).
Pressure Cooker
Popp affirms that producing ads for Super Bowl consideration definitely adds to the pressure of a job. Having worked on Anheuser-Busch campaigns for a decade—first Bud Dry, then Bud Light and currently Budweiser—Popp is not only familiar with the client’s modus operandi in terms of Super Bowl spots, but is a strong proponent of it. "They tend to do more spots than there are slots for, and wait for the cream to rise," he says. "I think that’s a really good way to do it when you can afford to do business that way, which they can. By holding their costs in check, they’re able to overproduce."
At one point several years ago, Popp relates, DDB had larger budgets for Frito-Lay and Anheuser-Busch. As a producer, he observes, you owe it to the client and creatives to give them the best money can buy. "[If] the money is there, you try to minimize your risk by going with a proven entity," says Popp of how he was able to work with the top directing talent.
"Now, I face the situation where I don’t have the money to go for a chart-topper," he continues. "As a result, the only way to get things done is to go to an unproven, riskier solution, where the production company sees your job as an opportunity, or as great p.r. [In those instances], they’ll give you a greatly reduced markup or reduced director’s fee, or will even invest some of their money into the production to build the director’s career."
McNally represents one such instance of the risk paying off. Popp notes that feature producer Jerry Bruckheimer (The Rock, Armageddon) tracked down McNally after "Lobster" aired, and hired the director to helm his soon-to-be-released feature debut called Coyote Ugly. And talent agency International Creative Management, based in Los Angeles, New York, London and Dublin, called DDB after this year’s Super Bowl to inquire about Roenberg. "If you have a hit as a producer, it’s a great feeling," says Popp, "because you feel you’ve broken new ground, and that’s a professional satisfaction."
Other recent Popp-produced Bud projects include the Super Bowl ad "Next Generation" directed by Dante Ariola of bicoastal/international Propaganda Films, which featured a veterinarian delivering a Clydesdale; and a soon-to-break submarine-themed Bud Light spot, directed by McNally. Aside from A-B, Popp also produced "Election" for Dairy Management’s national cheese account. The spot was directed by David Kellogg through bicoastal/international Propaganda (Kellogg has since moved to bicoastal 8Media); three more Kellogg-helmed spots in that campaign are slated to break soon.
MUSICALITY
Such heady dealings were the farthest thing from Popp’s mind when he first contemplated a career. A music-lover who had played in bands throughout high school and college, Popp initially enrolled in the radio/TV/film program at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., with the idea of being a record producer/engineer. But the film bug bit by the end of his freshman year, and Popp began pursuing filmmaking. His senior thesis project, The Lottery Rose, was the National Student Academy Award Dramatic Merit winner in ’84.
The prize yielded acclaim for the young student, including an offer to be a writer/director with representation at the William Morris Agency, which has offices in Beverly Hills, New York, Nashville, London, Munich and Sydney, Australia. But Popp opted not to go to California, preferring to stay in Chicago to see if he could leverage his student Oscar into local work. After a stint as a location scout (for movies including Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Lucas), Popp felt he needed to move on. He entered the advertising arena after the Illinois Film Office put him in touch with Paul Gregor, a copywriter at Needham, Harper & Steers, which would later become DDB. "I had a reel of 16-millimeter filmmaking—everything from music videos to excerpts from my student films," says Popp. "I came in not having the slightest idea of the world of commercialmaking and advertising."
Gregor introduced Popp to Grant Hill, who had just been named the agency’s head of production (Hill is now VP/executive production director.) In Jan. ’86, Popp became Hill’s first hire. Popp explains that he liked the idea of a 9-to-5 structure, a guaranteed income, and having a place to progress while weighing the idea of going back into the movie business. And despite offers over the years from production companies inviting him to direct, Popp hasn’t run out of interest in his current job. "Some would say I’m conservative and prone to staying put," says Popp, who still lives within five miles of his birthplace. "I don’t wander far, but it’s also because [DDB] has been a great career path for me.
"I’m fortunate to be good at what I do, which is putting people together and inspiring them to be their best—especially because of the circumstances where I get to expose new talent," he continues. "It makes for a cliffhanger every time. It definitely keeps you on your toes."t
