A new commercial for Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights is meant to spur viewers to run for their lives…and straight into the amusement park. A Common Thread produced the spot for Los Angeles agency David & Goliath, delivering a chilling piece of filmmaking that plays like a 30-second horror flick.nnIn Gates, four teens are walking along a foggy street in the dead of night when they spot another teen running at breakneck speed, pursued by a horde of crazed and ravenous zombies. Screaming, they bolt and seek safety behind a pair of towering iron gates. However, the moment they slam the gates shut and turn around, they find themselves confronted by another blood-thirsty mob of horrific creatures —they’ve locked themselves inside Universal Studios.nnA Common Thread and director Clay Staub invested the spot with all the trappings of a teen slasher movie: kinetic cinematography, ghoulish make-up, creepy locations and fevered performances. “Clay pulled from his background as a 2nd Unit Director on Dawn of the Dead, 300 and The Thing,” explains A Common Thread executive producer J.P. McMahon. “He knows how to manage zombies and monsters. He worked with them intensely on how to run, crawl and growl—it’s got a hellish vibe.”nnTo lens the spot, A Common Thread tapped director of photography Gonzalo Amat, whose credits include “The Devil Inside.” His footage is both beautiful and haunting.nnOne of the challenges of the production, notes McMahon, was to squeeze the classic horror movie narrative arc into a half-minute format. “The story starts off in slow motion but ramps up quickly and takes viewers on a high-speed thrill ride to the end,” he says. “The goal was to make it as scary as hell.”nn
nnCreditsnTitle: GatesnClient: Universal StudiosnnAgency: David & Goliath, Los Angeles.nDavid Angelo, Chairman, Chief Creative Officer; Ben Purcell, Creative Director; Steve Yee, Creative Director; Carrie Lighthall, Agency Senior Producer.nnProduction: A Common Thread, Los Angeles.nClay Staub, director; J.P. McMahon, Executive Producer; Tristan Drew, Executive Producer; Gonzalo Amat, Director of Photography. nnCreature FX: Sota FX, Los Angeles. Roy Knyrim.nnA Common Thread is located at 4081 Redwood Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90066. For more information, call 310.823.7300 or visit www.acommonthread.tv.J.P. McMahon Executive Producer/Partner A Common Thread 310.823.7300 Contact J.P. via email
Contact:Tristan Drew Executive Producer/Partner A Common Thread 310.823.7300 Contact Tristan via email
Goldcrest Post Speeds Delivery of “Severance” Season Two
The New York Times recently wrote that the just-released Season Two of Severance will “blow your mind”—and we couldn’t agree more. Created by Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller, the Apple TV+ drama is smart, spellbinding, distinctly original and packed with surprises. For those who aren’t already devoted fans, the show centers on Mark Scout (Adam Scott), leader of a team at Lumon Industries, whose employees have undergone a “severance” procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. Goldcrest Post provided post services for both seasons of the show, including picture editorial support, sound editorial, ADR and sound mixing. Editorial for Season One began in 2020. Due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, Goldcrest supplied both onsite production offices and edit suites, and remote editing systems for individual editors, with everything linked to a central server. "Mixing at Goldcrest with our team has been a great experience,” says Stiller. “Bob and Jacob are in sync with our creative process and so good at what they do that the experience is always one where it's about how we can enhance the creative vision, with a baseline of knowing everyone is totally committed to making something as good as it can be." Diana Dekajlo, the show’s co-producer, says that the arrangement worked so well, they chose to continue the hybrid approach for Season Two. “We’re a remote friendly show,” she explains. “Whether we’re at Goldcrest, our studio in the Bronx or at home, our workflow is seamless. I conduct remote daily meetings with my immediate staff, and weekly meetings with editorial and VFX, and we talk to each other as if we were just down the hall. It makes for great staff... Read More