Role: EP, D and W
The Ask: Create a Hero Video and supporting campaign that builds awareness for Desktop Bridge in a surprising, memorable and shareable way, showing how FAST it is to use
My Role: Project Lead, Executive Producer, Director, Copywriter
The Challenges: After months of planning and location scouting, we finally settled in at Road Atlanta, a racing track in Brasleton, GA. Once the crew arrived in town, we had a brief pre-production meeting followed by dinner.
I woke up that first night with the worst stomach bug/food poisoning I’ve ever had. I couldn’t get out of bed. I had to miss the production meeting, the tech scout, the entire prep day. Fortunately, I had worked closely with the DP on numerous projects, and we had been discussing this one for months. He understood my vision completely. And with the Production Manager and Assistant Director, they put together a plan for the first day of the shoot the next day.
The weather turned nasty for our first day. Severe thunderstorms forced us from the race track before we even started filming. Fortunately, we were able to switch the second day of two-day shoot. I worked with the track owner, race car team and our production team to reschedule all of them.
Our “Talent” was a software developer. He’d never appeared on camera before. The weather darkened the interior of our location so much that we had to supplement with a ton of light and grip equipment. It overwhelmed our talent. Even though this was an unscripted interview and he knew his subject inside and out, he froze. He couldn’t complete a sentence without stammering and stuttering. The pressure built with each failed take. I took him aside and reassured him everything was fine. We worked out a way for him to deliver what we needed. I knew that we’d could frankenbite his audio in editing.
The next and final day at the track, we’d film the race car ripping around the track in speeds in excess of 150mph. We had a complex and daunting day ahead. Multiple cameras, car rigs, aerials, etc. After a successful morning, we broke for lunch. The pit crew routinely checked the hero car. Bad news. A tie rod, essential to the steering, had broken. The car would be inoperable at high speeds. The client asked me point blank, “are we f**ked?”
I told him no. Not to worry. I had the shots planned and knew which ones we could fake using a stunt car or other tricks. I just needed to get the ending shot, (also be instrumental for social purposes). As the final shot of the shoot, the driver burned some donuts. The car whipped and spun, spewing burnt rubber and smoke, literally until the tires fell off.
The Results: With all the challenges, I never felt like we were “f**ked.” Across all social platforms and YouTube we achieved a total of over 3.7 million views, well over the goal. The Hero Video was rated “Best in Class” by YouTube for it‘s 39% Ad Recall. And the video had a completion rate 60% higher than industry standard. You can hear the full story in the podcast.
