Labors of Love

Last summer, I got a chance to 1st AD all five of the new commercials from the 2007 Mad Croc campaign.

I enjoyed working on all of them, but I felt that these two were the stand out winners among the five.

This first spot was an absolute headache for me, and it was the very first one we shot. Both kids did a great job, but they skipped breakfast and were nervous.

Trying to get both of them to do the exact right action AND at the exact right time was nearly impossible. I was under the kitchen counter helping both kids hit their marks and cueing them to perform their actions.

In the end, I believe all the sweat and hard work paid off.

This one is by far my favorite.




The second one, was a major challenge for the art department, which was headed by Greg Kenney. His small team of guys needed to dress an ordinary house to look like a frat after party that would have put Dionysus and Caligula to shame.

I ask you ... What fraternity party is complete without sex dolls, clowns and beautiful Asian women?

My good friend Crawford Bidwell is in the eagle mascot costume.

He seriously deserved a medal of honor just for wearing that outfit in the extreme heat.



There is also another spot shot in an office that is good.

However, I firmly believe that it is Kate Gilligan's talent that makes the commercial work and not the agency's conceptual idea.

Lost In Translation

Shortly before I joined the Director's Guild, I was given an opportunity by my good friend Mark. He was producing two commercials for S-Oil, and asked me to 1st AD both spots. S-Oil is the Korean version of Exxon, and so the commercials had very big budgets.

I have always enjoyed being the 1st AD on a commercial, and this job involved beautiful Irish dancers and two teams of cheerleaders.

At first, I wondered why he didn't want to assistant direct it himself. On the scout day, I found out why.

The entire creative team (Director, Agency Creatives, Director of Photography) were all from South Korea and they spoke little to no English. The director was only able to say "No" and "Cuto". The whole shoot went something like THIS.

It took quite a while for someone to post these on youtube.com, but a friend sent me the links the other day. I think they both turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I definitely like the cheerleader one better than the dancer spot.






I am fairly sure that I have a gray hair or two from this job. I cannot begin to tell you how hard it is to coordinate cheerleaders and dancers into moving car formations. However, it truly was an enjoyable challenge and I know I will remember it for the rest of my life.