Cliff Freeman & Partners Parodies Promo Copy In "Don"
CLIENT
Hollywood Video.
PRODUCTION CO.
Tate & Partners, Santa Monica. Baker Smith, director, Curtis Wehr, DP; David Tate, executive producer; Bonnie Goldfarb, producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
Cliff Freeman & Partners, New York. Arthur Bijur, executive creative director; Eric Silver, senior copywriter; Matt Vescovo, senior art director; Nick Felder, senior agency producer.
EDITORIAL
MacKenzie Cutler, New York. Gavin Cutler, editor; Ed Feldman, assistant editor; Sundy Proctor, producer.
POST
Nice Shoes, New York. Russ Bigsby, online editor; Scott Burch, colorist.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Animated end tag by Blur Studios, Venice, Calif. Mike Harvkey, executive producer; Jennifer Miller, creative director/designer; Peter Smith, designer/animator.
AUDIO POST
East Side Audio, New York. Tom Jucarone, engineer.
BY REGINALD OBERLAG
Everyone has seen those hyperactive movie previews with exaggerated basso-profundo voiceovers delivering a heartfelt, hyperbolic plot synopsis. So Cliff Freeman & Partners, New York, has capitalized on that universal experience and devised the comic "Don" spot for Hollywood Video stores (as part of it’s "Welcome to Hollywood" campaign). "Don" parodies those movie-trailer VOs by featuring Don LaFontaine, the very man whose sonorous voice has announced many a melodramatic movie.
The :30 is set in an actual Hollywood Video store: A man and woman stroll up to the sales counter with a tape and ask the sales clerk, "Could you tell us a little bit about this movie?," handing him the videotape case. The clerk looks down, knocks on a cabinet below the cash register and says, "Don, we need you up here." The cabinet door slides open and the suited Don climbs out, takes the tape in his hand, then sighs before beginning his deep-voiced delivery. "From Flesh to Steel. From Blood to Blade. From Man to Mutant. Evil has a new enemy. Justice has a new weapon. And the world … has a new hero." He hands the tape back to the clerk who says, "That was real nice Don." LaFontaine responds with a jaded "uh-huh" and climbs back under the counter while the customers smile with satisfaction. The :30 wraps up with an animated Hollywood Video logo tag.
Cliff Freeman executive creative director Arthur Bijur said the idea behind the "Welcome To Hollywood" spots is to demonstrate that Hollywood Video "really gets Hollywood and everything about it, … to show that it’s more a place which is really all about movies." He suggested that by using the lexicon of things uniquely Hollywood–such as the trailer voiceover style in the "Don" spot–the client is cast in a very Hollywood-savvy light.
Agency copywriter Eric Silver said getting LaFontaine, a top voiceover talent for movie previews, "really pushed the spot over the top. He does something like 90 percent of all the trailers, and we thought it would be funny to show that his residence is inside the Hollywood Video store." Silver said by showing that Hollywood Video owns the king of movie-trailer voiceovers, "they own a piece of Hollywood." He said, "This guy’s voice is so distinctive he could say, `Pass the cole slaw,’ and it would always sound dynamic."
Cliff Freeman art director Matt Vescovo explained that "the whole idea is that Hollywood Video is totally Hollywood, and one of the things we associate with Hollywood is this guy’s voice. So what better guy is there to describe a movie to customers than this guy who’s an authority and knows everything about every movie and everybody has heard his voice a million times?"
There was some concern that such a successful voice talent as LaFontaine might not agree to have himself crammed into a cabinet for multiple commercial takes but the creative team said he jumped at the opportunity. According to Bijur, "There are three or four guys who do all the movie trailer voiceovers, and they all have huge egos, so he was delighted to do it. I mean these guys probably live for the moment that their voice is attached to their face, and this was it for him. So he was willing to get jammed into a tiny cubbyhole."
The straightforward direction of the spot by Baker Smith of Tate & Partners, Santa Monica, also pleased Bijur. "What he did was the right thing to do, which was to let the theater play without getting fancy, and he did a really good job of bringing the comedy out and not getting in the way of it." Bijur said such simplicity in direction was exactly what the spot called for. "It’s not that easy to do. When you’re a director, you’re trying to make contributions that will stamp the spot as your own, and the really smart directors know when it’s necessary to get fancy with the camera and when it’s necessary not to."
Smith said that while it made his job easier to use concepts that could be easily brought to life, it was still a demanding job, with eight commercials to be filmed in five days. He said there was also the pressure "to really pull off the campaign and hit it out of the park" because it was the client’s first major branding effort. But "Don" was relatively easy, said Smith, in part because "LaFontaine is a pro, and he just nailed it every time, but then that’s what he does for a living." Smith said the only real challenge was to keep the spot funny without seeming "gaggy." The director said LaFontaine must have really wanted to do the spot because "we didn’t find out until we were shooting that he is slightly claustrophobic and asthmatic, and here we are shutting him up in a dark little cabinet, and when we opened it up to check on him he would be in there taking hits off his medicine inhaler."
***
Crash Is Heavenly
For 7-Eleven
CLIENT
Southland Corp./7-Eleven.
PRODUCTION CO.
Crash Films, Santa Monica. Billy Kent, director; Ramsey Nickell, DP; Bill Fortney and Gary Ward, executive producers; Hoon Park, producer; David Kleinman, head of production. Shot on location.
AGENCY
The Richards Group, Dallas. Jim Baldwin, creative director/art director; Carol Leftwich, producer; Lauren Olesky and Jed Schroeder, copywriters; Doug Eyring, art director.
EDITORIAL
Post Op, Dallas. Michael Van de Kamer, editor.
POST
Post Op. Gerlinde Scharinger, online editor. The Filmworkers Club, Dallas. Drew Marsh, colorist.
AUDIO POST
Post Op. Collyer Spreen, mixer.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN
Elias Associates, bicoastal. Matt Fletcher, composer, "Twinkle Toes"; Fritz Doddy, composer, "Banking With a Big Gulp" and "Sinful"; Alton Delano, sound designer; Alex Lasarenko, creative director.
THE SPOT
Three :30s–"Twinkle Toes," "Banking With a Big Gulp" and "Sinful"–feature Amy Yasbeck (of NBC-TV’s now-defunct Wings) as an angel who comes to the aid of 7-Eleven shoppers.
Spots broke in June.
***
CFM Marvels At
Cadillac Seville
CLIENT
General Motors Corp./Cadillac Seville STS and Seville SLS.
PRODUCTION CO.
Creative Film Management International, New York. Matthew Penn, director; Adam Kimmel, DP; Lou Addesso and James Kadonoff, executive producers; Miriam Patterson, producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
DMB&B, Troy, Mich. Gary Howell, senior VP/creative director; Alan Rado, senior art director; Leslie Rose, senior producer; Rob Hendrickson, VP/senior copywriter.
EDITORIAL
Lost Planet, Santa Monica. Mark Goodman, editor; Denise Van Ryzin, assistant editor.
POST
Company 3, Santa Monica. Stefan Sonnenfeld, colorist; Jerry Steele, (freelance) online editor.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Digital Magic, Santa Monica. Jerry Steele, (freelance) visual effects artist.
AUDIO POST
RavensWork, Venice, Calif. Eric Ryan, mixer/engineer.
MUSIC
Elias Associates, bicoastal. Michael Sherwood, composer; Anne Haugen, producer.
THE SPOT
The :30 "Sharp Curves" features Patrick Warburton ("Puddy" on Seinfeld) as a forest ranger. He detains a driver roadside because he fears that the driver’s car can’t handle the sharp curves on the road ahead. The driver is puzzled when Warburton allows a Cadillac to proceed without caution. "Marvel" spotlights actor John O’Hurley in typical "J. Peterman" (Seinfeld) tone explaining the "marvel" of his Seville SLS featuring the Northstar system, to a Lexus owner.
Spots broke May 14.
***
GGCY For State
Comp. Insurance
CLIENT
State Compensation Insurance Fund.
PRODUCTION CO.
Roaring Tiger Films, Mill Valley, Calif. Scott Buttfield, director/DP; Carey Crosby, executive producer; Mary Sanders, producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
Gardner, Geary, Coll & Young, San Francisco. John Coll, creative director; Lisa Friedman, art director; Lisa Goodfriend, copywriter; Nikki DiFranco, producer.
EDITORIAL
FilmCore, San Francisco. Paul Bertino, editor; Paul Kumpata, assistant editor; Jon Ettinger, executive producer; Peter Jarit, producer.
POST
Flipside Films, San Francisco. Dave Burghardt, online editor; Tamara Trell, assistant editor. Post Logic Studios, Hollywood. Chris Devlin, colorist.
AUDIO POST
One Union Recording Studios, San Francisco. Eric Eckstein, engineer.
MUSIC
Black Market Music, Katonah, N.Y. Marc Black, composer.
THE SPOT
Four :15s–"Biker," "Golf," "Fireman" and "Flying"–focus on people who have moved their workers comp. coverage to State Fund, which leaves them time to enjoy what they love most. The spots end with the tagline, "Get more and worry less."
Spots broke May 4.
***
Air Force One Is An
Easy Rider For NAPA
CLIENT
NAPA Automotive Parts.
PRODUCTION CO.
Air Force One, New York. Trez Bayer, director; Russell Fine, DP; Walter Thomas, executive producer; Gina Cascino, producer; Jeannie Rochelle, production manager. Shot on location.
AGENCY
WestWayne, Atlanta. Roy Trimble and Gene Powers, creative directors; Rodney Westbury, art director; Mike Lear, copywriter; Connie Newberry, executive producer; Earl McNulty, producer.
EDITORIAL
Click 3X, Atlanta. Bobby Long, editor.
POST
Click 3X. Terry Boyer, online editor; Mark Osinski, assistant editor. Video Tape Associates (VTA), Atlanta. John Yancey, colorist.
AUDIO POST
AcousTech Music Productions, Atlanta. Wayne Dykes, engineer/mixer.
THE SPOT
In the humorous :30 "Born to Ride," a biker appears to be cruising down a road on a beautiful, sunny day. The camera pulls back to reveal that the biker is actually rocking atop a child’s coin-operated motorcycle ride in front of a shopping mall, as two little boys wait their turn. The spot promotes NAPA’s Great American Sweepstakes and Sale that features a Harley-Davidson Superglide motorcycle as its grand prize.
Spot broke June 3.
***
Editing Concepts
For Sweet Crispers
CLIENT
Nabisco/Sweet Crispers.
PRODUCTION CO.
Shelter Films, New York. Jonathan David, director; Jack Donnelly, DP; Steven Shore, executive producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
Foote, Cone & Belding, New York. Ted Littleford, executive creative director; Bob Neuman and Bob Phillips, creative directors; Susan Pinke, copywriter; Ray Behar, art director; Paddy Giordano and Marni Grimm, producers.
EDITORIAL
Editing Concepts, New York. Michael Schwartz, editor; Gala Verdugo and Janet Maya, assistant editors; Nancy Finn, producer.
POST
Nice Shoes, New York. Ed Patrowicz, online editor. The Tape House Editorial Company, New York. Tim Masick, colorist. (Masick has since moved over to Moving Images, New York.)
AUDIO POST
The Mix Place, New York. Joe Miuccio, mixer.
THE SPOT
The :30 "Fair Square" stars Vicki Lewis (NewsRadio) who complains that guys can eat whatever they want and women can’t while she’s shoveling low-fat Sweet Crispers snacks into her mouth.
Spot broke May 18.
***
FilmCore Fashions Hair At Supercuts
CLIENT
Supercuts.
PRODUCTION CO.
Moxie Pictures, Los Angeles. Yariv Gaber, director; Bob Gantz, DP; Gary Rose, executive producer; Rich Zeifman, producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
McCann-Erickson, San Francisco. Dave Tutin, executive creative director; John Mattingly, associate creative director/copywriter; Kevin McCarthy, associate creative director/art director; Jim Bernasconi, producer.
EDITORIAL
FilmCore, San Francisco. Kim Bica, editor; Dave Becker, assistant editor; Jon Ettinger, executive producer.
POST
Encore Santa Monica. Vikki North, online editor. Complete Post, Hollywood. Steven P. Arkle, colorist.
AUDIO POST
POP Sound, Santa Monica. Jeff Payne, engineer/mixer.
MUSIC
Admusic, Santa Monica. Martin Lund, composer/arranger.
SOUND DESIGN
FilmCore. Kim Bica, sound designer; Jon Ettinger, executive producer.
THE SPOT
Three :30s–"Bowling," "Diner" and "Theater"–spotlight Supercuts’ ability to accommodate any imaginable hairstyle. In "Bowling," the camera snakes from lane to lane capturing quirky close-ups of people sporting a stylish, one-of-a-kind Supercuts hairdo. Mom’s coif, for instance, is dubbed "theevenmyfifteenyearoldthinksitscool." "Diner" and "Theater" feature similar situations in a coffee shop and in the entrance of a movie house. The spots end with the tagline, "As hip as you want to be."
Spots broke in May.
***
Curious Goes Online
For barnesandnoble
CLIENT
barnesandnoble.com.
PRODUCTION CO.
Curious Pictures, New York. Mike Bade, director; Ralf Bode, DP; David Starr and Richard Winkler, executive producers; David Kelley, designer/compositor; Nancy Giandomenico, producer. Shot at CECO International, New York.
AGENCY
Weiss, Whitten, Stagliano, New York. Adam Stagliano, president; Marty Weiss, creative director; Jeff Compton, art director; Rick Condos, copywriter; Susan Macy, producer.
EDITORIAL
Vito DeSario Editing, New York. Stephen Cheifitz, editor.
POST
Nice Shoes, New York. Scott Burch, colorist.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Screaming Pictures, New York. Amber Wilson, Flame artist.
AUDIO POST
East Side Audio, New York. Bobby Giammarco, engineer.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN
tomandandy, bicoastal. Mitch Davis, composer/arranger; Steve McEnaney, sound designer.
THE SPOT
Four :15s–"Deep Discounts," "Secure Transactions," "Fast Delivery" and "Personal Recommendations"–open with live-action footage dissolving into graphics consisting of colorful bars, lines and type, to reveal the spot’s title, Web site address and the tagline, "Millions of books."
Spots broke in late May.
***
The Intuition Group
Colors With Clairol
CLIENT
Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Rich Conditioning Color Creme.
PRODUCTION CO.
Venus Entertainment, New York. Jim Sonzero, director; John Perez, DP; Bill Sandwick and Jim Evans, executive producers; Nira Shiffman, producer. Shot at Silvercup Studios, Long Island City, N.Y.
AGENCY
The Intuition Group, New York. Lori Moskowitz Lepler, president; Charlie Carlson, creative director/copywriter; Deborah Wagner, senior producer; Bobbi John, executive creative director; Stephen Wille, creative director/art director.
EDITORIAL
Horn/Eisenberg Editorial & Graphics, New York. Chris Horn, editor.
POST
Horn/Eisenberg Editorial & Graphics. Chris Horn, online editor. GFI, New York. Bob Gutmann, colorist.
AUDIO POST
The Mix Place, New York. Bobby Elder, mixer.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN
Bang N.Y. Jane Mangini, composer/sound designer; John Parthum, sound engineer.
THE SPOT
The :30 "Maybe" features actress Kristen Johnston (3rd Rock From the Sun) playfully extolling the virtues of Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Rich Conditioning Color Creme.
Spot broke July 29.
***
Headquarters, JWT
Cheer On Rolaids
CLIENT
Warner-Lambert Co./Rolaids.
PRODUCTION CO.
Headquarters, bicoastal. Eric Steinman, director; Barry Peterson, DP; Alex Blum, partner/executive producer; Tom Mooney, partner/director of sales; Andrew Denyer, head of production; Caroline Pham, producer; Andre Kusmierz, production manager. Shot on location.
AGENCY
J. Walter Thompson, New York. J.J. Jordan and Brian Sitts, creative directors; Randy Freeman, art director; Kevin Doyle, copywriter; Paul Roy, producer.
EDITORIAL
MacKenzie Cutler, New York. Erik Johnson, editor; Vicky Koppel, producer.
POST
Nice Shoes, New York. Scott Burch, colorist. Manhattan Transfer, New York. Ted Pishko, Henry artist.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Sam Edwards Group, New York. Sam Edwards, Flame artist.
AUDIO POST
East Side Audio, New York. Tom Jucarone, engineer.
SOUND DESIGN
Machine Head, New York. Bill Chesley, sound designer; Terry O’Gara, executive producer. (Machine Head is now headquartered in Venice, Calif., having closed its New York office. Chesley and O’Gara have since joined Amber Music, New York.)
THE SPOT
Rolaids’ "Superfans" campaign features the unsung hero of athletic competition, the "professional fan." In the :30 "Superstitious," a baseball fan performs elaborate rituals to help his team. The :30 "Shirtless" shows three generations of gridiron fans willing to expose themselves to the elements to show their support. Both spots show fans overindulging in stadium food, leading to heartburn. With Rolaids on hand, the superfans are soon able to get back on their game.
Spots broke in July.
***
S&S Never Closes
Frosted Cheerios
CLIENT
General Mills/Frosted Cheerios.
PRODUCTION CO.
Jon Francis Films, San Francisco. Jon Francis, director; Allen Daviau, DP; Linda Emery, executive producer; Jeff Vibes, line producer. Shot at Universal Studios, Universal City, Calif.
AGENCY
Saatchi & Saatchi, New York. Sean Kiener, creative director/art director; Steve Centeno, creative director/copywriter; Jerry Levenson, executive producer; Eric Korte, music producer.
EDITORIAL
Invisible Dog, New York. Richard Rosenbaum, editor; J.P. Morgan, assistant editor.
POST/VISUAL EFFECTS
Manhattan Transfer, New York. John Bonta, colorist. Invisible Dog. John Rosen, online editor; Nelson Roe, Flame artist.
AUDIO POST
Howard Schwartz Recording, New York. Bill Higley, engineer.
SOUND DESIGN
tomandandy, bicoastal. Andy Milburn, sound designer.
THE SPOT
The :30 "Schneider Adult," features Rob Schneider as an elevator attendant who eats Frosted Cheerios out of the box while on the job. The spot ends with the tag, "This box never closes."
Spot broke in Ju
