Donnybrook Production Services

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.

With his latest win at this years Atlanta Motor Speedway, NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon was propelled to the rank of third all-time in racing history.  While the win was only his third of the season, it constituted his 85th lifetime, placing him on the top-3 list behind only Richard Petty and David Pearson.  And while it’s highly unlikely he’ll be able to overtake Petty’s 200 wins all-time, he does have a legitimate shot at Pearson’s record of 105.

Now I don’t fancy myself a super-fan of NASCAR, as it’s been my experience that you’re either a ‘race guy’ or your not.  A solid case in point, the producer I just worked with on my last project certainly was…Brian, you know who you are.  Having said that, claiming to not know who Jeff Gordon is because you’re not a race fan is like saying you’ve never heard of Tiger Woods because you don’t follow golf.  After all, guys like that are just as much pop-culture icons as they are representatives of their respective craft.

I, for one, found Mr. Gordon to be a swell fellow when I had the unique opportunity of working with him ealier this year.  I produced a spot for a pharma client that used Jeff and his wife (model Ingrid Vandebosch) as its lead spokes-folks.  The campaign, directed by Kevin Hack of Get-Kinetic and shot on the RED One by DP JR Campbell, was aimed at raising awareness for parents to the dangers of Pertussis (also known as whooping cough).  Both Jeff & Ingrid were enjoyable to work with, making the otherwise hectic production schedule far smoother than it likely should have been.

So again, my hat’s off to a nice guy who actually does get to finish first…apparently 85 times and counting.

With principal photography officially in the can (or, more appropriately, stored efficiently on the hard drives), it’s on to the post-production leg of things for Director Ben Hickernell, Producer Sarah Megan Thomas, and their rowing infused feature “Backwards”.  Editor Phillip Bartell (“In Her Shoes”, “Undertow”) has been in Philly since week two of production back in July, and has been working out of ODM in Old City.

The film, lensed on the RED One by DP Harlan Bosmajian, took full advantage of the tapeless format by enlisting the services of NYC-based post house Mega Playground for all digital intermediate duties.  With twice-weekly treks up the turnpike, footage runners were dropping off fresh drives for transcoding.  As a result, the filmmakers were able to stay on top of the projects aesthetic and coverage benchmarks while viewing dailies from footage only a couple of days old.

The film, starring James Van Der Beek, Glenn Morshower, and Margaret Colin (alongside Thomas herself) is slated for a 2012 release.  You can stay on top of the latest news, notes, and nods by visiting the “Backwards” facebook page.