Best Buy – National Broadcast
Copywriting
Problem:
While doing some contract work for Best Buy, I got a Friday call that a concept and script were severely needed by Monday AM. And it needed to be about Blue Shirts. And zombies? Okay. I'd make it work.
Solution:
With director Andy Awes, I hammered out the idea of a young girl (obviously the next Orson Wells or Katheryn Bigelow) determined to make the next great zombie movie. But to deliver, she'd need a top-notch rig to edit it all together. Enter Best Buy.
Result:
A great little spot shot by the indelible Bo Hakala which aired during the premiere of the Walking Dead's first season on AMC.
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Best Buy
Process / Notes
Conceptual Accelerant
Part of getting my bearings quickly for this job was taking some heavy inspiration from the Royal Tennebaums. How helpful the site Listen on Repeat would have been had I known of it back then, as I spent almost an entire Saturday listening to Ysa'e Quartet String Quartet in F Major Second Movement, trying to sprint into the world of this spot.
Originally, we conceived of our natural born director being younger, an artistic savant that would be right at home in one of Wes Anderson's cinematic worlds. This was partly due to that fact we wanted to ensure her "noticing" the Blue Shirt in the store felt completely innocent.
Massive Attack
Again, Bo Hakala brought the thunder to this project (as he is want to do). Ironically, it was seeing Bo's Vengeance Zombies 3000 over two decades ago that first hipped me to his talent. (Sorry Bo, it's true.)
Wait. Is that irony? Oh dammit, don't make me look it up. Not right now. Instead, just go check out his reel. The man is supremely talented. And I'm not just saying that because he cast me as 50's Man Who Has Just Gotten Off Work And Is Now Staring Through A Fence At A Dead Body in the video he shot for P.O.S.'s Bleeding Heart's Club.
It what? Oh hey! Awesome!
I felt super lucky to have been part of the team that brought this spot to life. And I think it was because of the extreme timeline that it needed to come together in that everyone assumed I knew it would be premiering during this new AMC show called The Walking Dead.
I didn't, only finding out six or so months later in casual conversation with some folks who'd been involved. So sure, I didn't end up getting to call my mom to make sure she was watching for the spot to debut. But the news was welcomed, wrapping the whole experience up with a nice little...undead, flesh-hungry...bow?