Parc Entertainment - A Video Production Company - Birmingham, AL

PoshBirmingham.com is a website that features incentives from the finest retailers and restaurants in the Birmingham area. The website should launch in the next week, but to help raise awareness and drive traffic to the site, we were hired to produce a series of commercials. We created four commercials for Posh Birmingham - two :30 spots, one :15 spot, and one :05 spot. Some spots focus on the retailers, while others focus on the restaurants. The :30 spot posted below is one advertising some of the retailers you can find on PoshBirmingham.com.

Next week two new commercials for CommuteSmart will begin airing throughout central Alabama. Both spots are part of the “I’m Ready” campaign. The goal is to help viewers understand that making only small changes to the way they commute can help them save and earn money, reduce traffic congestion, and improve air quality. We were hired by CommuteSmart to produce both spots. The one below focuses on air quality issues.

One of the exciting things we are working on right now is the development of a new documentary reality TV series. The focus of the show will center on a unique business, industry, etc. featuring individuals with charismatic personalities. For reference, think of shows like “Deadliest Catch,” “American Chopper,” “Pawn Stars,” “Construction Intervention,” “Ice Road Truckers,” or “Cake Boss.”

As a region, the southeast is under-represented when it comes to the shows that are currently being produced, so we are hoping to find some great stories from right here in Alabama. This is where we need your help. If you have a great idea for a new documentary TV series, we would love to hear about it. Send us an email and give us the pitch. If we feel that it has potential, we will get back in touch with you to schedule a time when we can come out and shoot a brief demo reel.

Experts agree - online video will continue its growth over the next several years as consumption of video content continues to increase. In this video from Beet.TV, Jeff Cole, director of USC’s Center for the Digital Future, predicts that people will soon be spending up to 50 hours per week watching video. This rise (up from only 16 hours in 1975), will be due to the popularity of mobile video. This presents an incredible opportunity for advertisers and marketers, who will be able to use video to reach their audience while consumers are outside the home. This is TV without borders.

The question, however, is on the content itself. Where do you see the trend heading? Do you foresee an audience willing to watch 30 or 60-minute shows on their mobile devices, like Cole predicts? Or, do you you predict that the trend will continue to favor shorter, easily consumable 2-3 minute clips?

In regards to advertisers and marketers, what direction do you see video taking? Will production quality give way to production quantity? In other words, is it more important for advertisers to churn out as much video content as quickly as possible? Or, should they take their time with crafting and creating a well-polished, well-produced marketing video that has a longer shelf life?

The other night I was watching a TV show that I had recorded with my DVR. Like many of you, when the show went to a commercial break, I reached for the remote in order to fast-forward. But then, a commercial came on for Domino’s Pizza and I stopped to watch. What intrigued me about this ad was its honesty and transparency. The commercial showed focus groups, wherein customers talked negatively about the quality of Domino’s Pizza. They showed Twitter comments where internet users blasted the food chain for its poor product. But then, through sound bytes from Domino’s executives and chefs, the commercial demonstrated how the company was changing its recipe based on the feedback it received. This particular campaign is a great example of how a company listened and responded to its customers. Then, with honesty and transparency, they acknowledged their shortcomings and vowed to change things for the better. We’ll have to wait and see whether the new pizza recipe changes public opinion, but I think the company has done a good job of managing its public relations.

If you watch a lot of movies, you will soon pick up on certain devices that are used over and over again, like a car that won’t start when the killer is closing in on the main character. One of the cliches that I’ve noticed is often used during a dramatic scene between two characters. Usually, the characters are at odds with each other and the scene is tense, filled with a lot of dialogue. Inevitably, Character #1 will end the conversation and then dramatically walk away from the confrontation. However, just before he/she leaves the room, Character #2 will stop Character #1’s exit with one last word. You might see this play out in an FBI office when the young, brash agent starts to walk away from his supervisor. Just before getting to the door the supervisor will say, “Agent Pearson.” At which point, the young agent will turn around. The two lock eyes for a moment and the supervisor adds, “Be careful out there.”

What other movie/TV cliches have you noticed?

Ameriquest Mortgage created a memorable TV campaign with a series of spots centered on the theme “Don’t Judge Too Quickly.” Each spot features someone in a perfectly innocent situation that doesn’t seem so innocent to other characters who walk in at just the wrong moment.

The campaign has a solid theme which is executable in a variety of fresh ways. Each spot is funny, simple, and memorable. However, when I first saw these spots I was a little surprised that they were advertising a mortgage company. The creative approach to each ad just didn’t feel right, considering the client. Take a look at a some of the spots below and tell me whether you think the strategy was smart move for Ameriquest.

My brother Steven turned me onto this spot from American Airlines and I thought I would share it here. I think this spot works for a number of reasons:

1. Premise - It’s a simple idea: a film producer trots around the globe with her eccentric director scouting locations for a film. She’s exhausted, but because of American Airlines new international business class, she can enjoy some much-needed rest while traveling the world. In your own marketing and advertising efforts, keep your strategy simple and on point. Find that key selling point you can wrap a campaign around.
2. Problem & Solution - Notice how the commercial sets up a need: busy world traveler wants some quality rest. The solution is the new international business class from American Airlines, which offers seats that can transform into a small bed.
3. Characters - The eccentric, quirky film director is stereotypical, yet funny and memorable. Even in a thirty-second spot, characters are important.
4. Pacing - The cuts are quick, but they don’t confuse the viewer. And they add to the humor in the spot. The style of edit should match the subject matter of the piece and support the mood you’re trying to achieve.
5. Comedy - The movie is about Parisian squirrels who ride scooters. The premise of the movie is irrelevant to the overall strategy, but it provides the quirky comedy necessary to help the spot stay memorable.

And as always, feel free to leave your impressions on this commercial in the “comments” section.

In a post last summer I mentioned SnagFilms as a great place to find free documentary film content on the web. Recently, Hulu has gained popularity among online video watchers. On the site you can watch movies, current TV shows, classic films, and a host of other clips — all for free. And the quality of the videos on Hulu looks great.

Now the two sites have teamed up. A press release on the SnagFilms website announces that SnagFilm documentaries will now be made available on Hulu. Here’s an excerpt:

SnagFilms brings the best nonfiction films to the web audience, promotes viral web distribution through virtual movie theater widgets, and engages viewers to assist in charitable and community efforts. “SnagFilms was created to make more great films available to the broadest possible audience. Now with Hulu we can delight viewers on one of the Internet’s most-visited video sites with a growing set of documentaries from our large library, and deepen the already broad set of entertainment choices that Hulu offers,” said Rick Allen CEO of SnagFilms.

I look forward to perusing the site for solid documentary content. Now it’s just finding the time to watch the films.

Recently I watched the film The Prime Gig
on IFC - a story centered on Pendelton “Penny” Wise (Vince Vaughn), a smooth-talking small-time phone scam artist who wants to score some big money. As the film opens, Penny is working in a low-level telemarketing office with other sales people who are trying to scrape by. It’s obvious from the start that Penny is a big fish in a little pond and he knows it. He wants more. He wants a bigger challenge with a bigger payoff. Through his connections, Penny hears about an opportunity with Kelly Grant (Ed Harris), a well-known figure within their world. Penny knows that if he can get on board with Grant that he will earn more in one week than most people do in six months.

The Prime Gig follows other grifter and con-artist films and I fully expected the plot to be a tangled web of double-crosses, leaving me guessing until the very end. However, the difference with The Prime Gig is the fact that it’s focused more on the Penny character, not an ensemble cast or a multi-layered plot. I don’t mind the strong focus on character, but this premise lent itself beautifully to the type of plot one comes to expect from this genre and it didn’t capitalize on the opportunity.

The first act of the film was very promising, but there was nothing in subsequent acts to really heighten the tension and propel the story to a new level. After hooking the audience, the story seemed to level off. And the subplot between Penny and his good-for-nothing bum of a friend went nowhere.

Julia Ormond did a wonderful job as Caitlin Carlson, a sexy and strong love interest for Penny. The script developed her character really well. The same can’t be said however for the mysterious Kelly Grant. Ed Harris did what he could with what was given to him, but I really wanted more from this character. Grant was set up early on as an antagonist for Penny’s character, but the conflict never did build.

Overall, The Prime Gig is a film with great promise that goes flat less than half way through.

3 1/2 out of 10