commercials

My name isn’t Frank

Last year I had the good fortune to work on a great commercial shoot, but never saw the commercial. It had been rumored that the spot would air only in a test market and, if successful, it would air in other markets. Well, I guess it has been successful! I saw it this evening out of the corner of my eye. It stars my friend Walter Mudu who makes for a great wedding planner. As for me, I’m the assistant carrying the flowers in the background. Though it’s not glamorous, recognizable screen time, it is work and I am grateful for it. As an aside, I would like to point out that my name … Continue reading »

A Pollie Prize

Do you remember that sprinting spot I shot last year? In the commercial, I play a teacher dashing from classroom to classroom, teaching all subjects with varying degrees of success. This is it here:

I am pleased to announce it received a Silver Pollie Award this past weekend for the Best Use of Humor in a Ballot or Initiative Campaign as awarded by the American Association of Political Consultants. What is a Pollie Award? (I had never heard of the prize before and I think this is an unexpectedly good outcome for a commercial, don’t you?) The Pollies are the most prestigious awards in … Continue reading »

Compromising Classical Music?

I’m a fan of savvy and witty marketing campaigns. Some of my more recent favorites include: The Most Interesting Man in the World (great TV spots!); GEICO’s satirical television campaign with dry cameo appearances (James Lipton!); Samsung’s Extreme Sheep LED Art; the Truth Campaign’s television commercials; BMW’s “Expression of Joy” spot for the Z4 Roadster (not to mention the extensive behind-the-scenes videos); and Give It a Ponder (again, James Lipton!). I just came upon this recent Heineken campaign, involving Italian soccer … Continue reading »

Food as Medium

If you’ve ever thought working with a diva was time consuming, try working with a sandwich. Or a salad. Or some potato chips. Yesterday was my first professional experience working on a commercial where food was the star and–let me tell you–the crew lavishes masses of attention upon that food. The chief lavisher? The food stylist. There were containers of perfectly-cut lettuce, trays of specially identified meat, dishes with symmetrically-cut cheese slices and pans of hand-selected potato chips. At one point the crew was joking, comparing the care in … Continue reading »

Eating Air

This past Thursday morning I auditioned for a TV commercial. It was one of those improv-y auditions where I got to eat air with plastic utensils and chat with a “friend”. In cases like these, I know the final output will be primarily visual with voice over talent telling the viewer all s/he needs to know about the product in question. My “friend” was a lovely woman whom I had never seen before, but we got along well and were called to audition first. Auditioning first was not all bad this time: we had two chances to enact our lunchtime scene because the first take was … Continue reading »

A Christmas Commercial (But Not Mine)

In September of this year I had a satellite-feed commercial callback for a spot with wonderful potential. Six of us were called back and, frankly, I would have been pleased if any one of us had gotten the gig. Unfortunately, the ad agency decided to go with Los Angeles-based cast, perhaps for financial reasons. I just saw the finished spot this morning. It’s for Target. This could have been me! (Oh, and originally the gift was a sweater.)

Mom Once More

A couple of weeks ago, I auditioned for a big-name client and a commercial that had real promise. Unfortunately I didn’t get the job, which may have been the result of a combination of factors: I had been told to prepare a character I wasn’t auditioning for; I was told the lines were improvisatory when there were lines to memorize; We were made to audition with nine other people in the room, all of whom were auditioning for the same role. You know, factors. Despite these it seems the client may have liked me anyway, as I was invited to audition again, but for a … Continue reading »