A man on his morning walk passes by a lawn sale with a table containing various sundry items. He trips and stumbles, knocking into the table, sending its contents along with him down a steep hill to gather even more items and people in what is a building “snowball” of humanity and inanimate objects.
Becoming part of this ball are pedestrians, a line of motorcycles, a minivan, an entire wedding party–including the bride and groom–even a bicyclist who sees the pending doom and attempts to pedal away but to no avail.
Finally this humongous ball hits a building and disperses, with the people able to walk away relatively unscathed and most of the objects looking pretty much intact.
A voiceover relates, “When your insurance is in-synch, you can roll with anything.” The Travelers logo then appears on screen.
Dante Ariola of bicoastal/international MJZ directed “Snowball” for Fallon Minneapolis, with tour de force visual effects from Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand.
Jeff Scruton executive produced and Natalie Hill produced for MJZ. The DP was Toby Irwin.
The Fallon team consisted of creative director Kerry Feuerman, group creative director Todd Riddle, art director James Zucco, copywriter James Bray, director of broadcast/exec producer Vic Palumbo, exec producer Kate Talbott and assistant producer Jim Haight.
Russel Icke of The Whitehouse, Santa Monica, edited the spot. Assistant editors were Joanna Manning and James Turner. Sue Dawson and Joni Wright served as exec producer and producer, respectively for The Whitehouse.
The Weta contingent included visual effects supervisor Dan Lemon, effects producer Eileen Moran, digital producer Marvin Young, on-set digital producer Kevin Sherwood, digital effects supervisor Chris White, animation supervisor Paul Story, art director Michael Pangrazio, on-set surveyor/photographer Matt Mueller, on-set surveyor Michael Sarkis and effects editors Matt Holmes and Lucas Putnam.
Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3, Santa Monica, was the colorist. Audio mixer was Robert Feist of RavensWork, Venice, Calif. Music was by Human, New York. Sound designer was Eddy Kim of 740 Sound Design, Santa Monica.
AICP’s Matt Miller Looks To Build Support For Production In L.A. After Devastating Wildfires
Editor’s note: AICP president and CEO Matt Miller issued the following statement addressing the wildfires in Los Angeles and how the industry can help this key production market--a hub of major resources essential to the health of the overall commercialmaking industry:
Who Needs Los Angeles? We Do.
By Matt Miller, AICP president and CEO
One doesn’t have to be a statistician to know that there are fewer commercials being shot in the U.S. today for the American market than ever before, and a dramatic decrease in L.A. in particular. In the last five years, as reported by FilmLA (the office tasked with issuing permits), L.A. commercial production has dipped 31 percent.
But here’s the thing: This doesn’t mean that L.A. has lost its importance as the production center of the world. Production in L.A. is vital. It is the go-to. It’s where you can count on access to exemplary crews, a support infrastructure second to none, varied location and backlot options, a large population of on-screen talent and (fairly) predictable weather.
The fact is, with overall decline and now the devastation of the fires, we’re on the brink of losing this mainstay resource. Without employment opportunities and now many without homes, talented and trained crew are bound to leave either the industry or the L.A. area for other opportunities, unless there are enough job opportunities to sustain a solid living.
Now is the time when we ALL must support and bolster this community.
Production is needed in L.A., now!
Of course, advertising is a business, and marketers’ money should be spent as efficiently as possible, BUT we have to think beyond each production and know that if we lose the... Read More