Donnybrook Production Services

Over the past month, I’ve been collaborating with one of my regular agency clients on a comprehensive re-branding effort for the American Red Cross.  With ARC looking to update all of their existing first-aid course materials, Donnybrook and Agency Producer Michael DelPolito have been prepping for a handful of shoots in the Greater Philly region in the coming weeks.

With the need for first-aid training so pervasive, the shoots will represent all walks of life.  Our casting selects have been keeping our friends over at Philadelphia Casting Co on their toes, and Susan and Sam have been great to work with as always.  When all is said and done we’ll have booked nearly two-hundred talent…not to mention dozens of locations, a fleet of semi’s, and a school bus or two for added measure.  And we’ve amassed a fantastic crew once again, with a number of familiar faces and vendors in the ranks.  Thank you to Expressway Grip, DP Tom Fanelle, and Production Designer Mike Crenshaw for yet another stellar cooperative effort.  And a big shout-out to Erin @ the GPFO for all of her assistance along the way.

The fruits of our collective labors should hit the streets early next year, but here’s the Donnybrook produced spot that kicked it all off for these varied Red Cross co-op’s.  Directed by Josh Mawer, this one still ranks as one of my favorites.

I don’t golf.  I never have, and save for a foggy bachelor party recollection, years ago, my endeavors on the green have been solely of the ‘mini’ variety.  So when a regular agency client of mine came to me with a tight deadline, and a creative concept that necessitated marching a full film crew (and half a living room) on to an unsuspecting course, I rated the potential for success as anything but a ‘fore’gone conclusion…ba-dum-chh!  Hey, for what it’s worth, I almost chose that as the title of this post.  Mercifully, cooler (and less corny) heads prevailed.

At any rate, mission critical to a successful undertaking was finding a golf course that would even consider allowing this to take place.  Enter frame right the fine folks at Westwood Golf Club, in South Jersey.  Through a delicate combination of intentionally vague disclosure, and the locations lack of experience hosting film crews, the gig came together better than I’d hoped.  But the clincher was renowned sports network DCPN offering up their ace commentator Wes Heywood for the cause.  He may be a poor man’s Howard Cossel, but he was stroke perfect for our singular needs on this one.  And even though we were summarily shuttled to the club’s 19th hole (yup, count that, 18 plus one), a fairway typically reserved for practice swings and the occasional armchair politician, it all came together in the end.  So if all’s truly well that ends well, then score this one a success…no mulligan necessary.

While still in high school, I toiled for a short stint as an overnight stocker, courtesy of my local supermarket.  And while it’s not necessarily my pinnacle employment memory, there was something uniquely covert about having the run of a store that was completely off limits to the public.  Well in perfect #TBT, or more appropriately Wednesday in to Thursday, fashion, I recently had a chance to run amok once again during an overnight commercial shoot in the unassuming PA ‘burbs.  The obliging green grocer this time around was the Swarthmore CoOp, and the contemporary corner market proved to be an impeccable backdrop, and an extremely film friendly location.

This episode of Donnybrook After Dark was in support of the ‘Grow Up’ campaign, for non-profit Generation Opportunity.  Teaming once again with longstanding agency ally Jamestown Associates, my crew and I took to the aisles to produce a comedic commentary on the current state of the National Debt…frozen food, veggie, and organic aisles alike.  And Swarthmore’s tasteful and artistic end caps will make for a great place to vfx in a variety of GenOpp’s alarming stats to boot.

While the free-flowing caffeine, graciously sponsored by our hosts, certainly helped with the voluntary insomnia, so did the fact that the shoot ended up being a heck of a lot of fun.  Crew, client, and talent alike were energized for the duration, and by sun up we’d succeeded in capturing ample assets for an entertaining and informative spot.

A super-sized thanks to my good friend Ann Gillette, for yet another miraculous 11th hour casting assist.  May your miracle well never run dry.  And to the perpetual movers and shakers over at Expressway, many thanks for the provisioned grip heads and gear…especially given that it was none other than Philly’s own Starsky & Hutch team of Dave Greenplate & Phil Tartaglione.

With the Northeast Corridor still reeling from the impact of Superstorm Sandy, efforts of stalwart agencies like the Red Cross are paramount.  For more than a century, the American Red Cross has been coming to the aid of those in need.  As a way of giving back, and helping the communities where I live and work, I decided to push forward with a creative treatment that had been kicking around in my head for a while…one that seemed an all-too-perfect fit for the Red Cross.

Teaming once again with Director Josh Mawer, we created an ad that we branded for the non-profit’s vital emergency relief work in the aftermath of Sandy.  I wrote, produced, and co-edited the spot, with Josh taking up the directing reins once again. This teaming is quickly becoming one of the better creative collaborations I’ve formed over the years.  DP Steve Perrong brought his aesthetic prowess to the project, lensing the spot beautifully on his EPIC.  With the help of a pristine set of Cooke S4 Primes, courtesy of 1st AC Tom Fanelle, the spot takes full advantage of some great locations in and around the Philly area…not to mention a stunning eventide opener in Rittenhouse Square.

This was an extremely personal project, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way it all came together. Check it out here:

The spot is driven by a tremendously catchy tune, courtesy of the Brooklyn-based ‘American Authors’.  The band, who graciously offered up their hit track ‘Believer’ for the cause, is quickly catching fire…look for them to be big next year. My 8-year old niece, Frankie, lent her voice for the fitting VO. An additional shout-out of thanks to local Philadelphia vendors Videosmith, Get-Kinetic, Expressway Grip, and Location Lighting, who all donated equipment, personnel, and support, effectively rounding out one of my favorite projects on the year by far.