Good things come in threes. Or is it bad things? I can never remember. Anywho, Optimum's trifecta of technology, The Triple Play, is a difficult thing to express in simple words. Because you can't just come right out and say it: You have to sing it. How about to the tune of Peaches & Herb's 1978 classic, "Reunited"? Is it about Internet, Mobile and Streaming TV coming together for one great price? Sure. But it's really about love...
For Ally, I wrote TV spots, radio commercials, print ads, digital banners, Facebook posts, Tweets, perfume descriptions, and a long form video featuring two irrepressible country stars on location in Nashville. And for one two-week period I was the agency’s foremost expert in antique swords. I even opened up a high-yield savings account.
Some insist on saying “Comcast” instead of Xfinity the way many New Yorkers look askance at signs for the RFK Bridge. It is, and always will be, The Triboro. That aside, I wrote plenty for the cable behemoth hailing from the City of Brotherly Love.
So how did I fare working on NERDS?
Every writer enjoys playing with words,
Both scripts and captions were written in rhyme,
Not exactly Shakespeare, but is that such a crime?
I helped launch Shell V-Power NiTRO+ at the Indianapolis 500 by creating an interactive gas pump that dispensing prizes and rewards. Race fans answered multiple choice questions I had the honor of writing (e.g. what do winners drink? A) Milk B) Champagne C) Vegan smoothie D) Shell V-Power NiTRO+) while an emcee dressed in a snazzy red blazer kept the festivities moving along. Later, I worked on animated videos detailing the fuel’s material benefits. Who knew “gunk” was a legitimate scientific term?
General Mills was a bowl of laughs - starting with the comic stylings of Buzz, a bipedal honeybee. Aside from that, my duties were mostly relegated to coming up with informational signage and scripts during “Moments of Good,” a serial staple for the cereal staple.
Hotels are private places, with locks, chains, and dead bolts. Unless they are experiential activations in the center of the Oculus. In that increasingly common case, they are very, very public.
I was one of the few non-video gamers. I dabbled. My eyes turned. I preferred tag, building forts, breaking a stick against a tree. It’s not every day you get to parody both Ocean’s 11 and The Town for a short piece of branded content. But that’s what happened courtesy of the intrepid folks from WildcatterLA. Although I am a New York Yankees fan, I cannot deny the majesty and history of Fenway Park.
To set themselves apart from the stultifying world of auto-financing, Ally created a set of bespoke automotive fragrances. New Car Smell by Ally debuted at the 2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. I wrote amusing descriptions for all 8 perfumes. The copy was then paired with gorgeously designed bottles and boxes.
The booth activation was complemented by a site for consumers to design their very own virtual perfumes.
And here is a little press: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/auto-loan-brands-colognes-can-help-anyone-smell-dirty-pickup-truck-169656
Jay Maisel is one of the greatest photographers of the 20th century. He also happens to be one of the most entertaining. I directed this short film in the summer of 2007, believing it would be a simple, straightforward portrait of a real artist. It became something else, something, in my view, far more compelling.
© 2007
The University of Chicago is known for many things. Nobel laureates, its economic department, and being the site of the first nuclear chain reaction. My BA thesis took a slightly divergent path from that intellectual lineage. I somehow convinced the Cinema & Media Studies program at a school famous for its emphasis on the theoretical to let me make a movie about Neil Young and his hometown.
The shoot lasted only ten days. Three of my best friends were the crew, and as it turned out, the talent. When I rewatch it now, I have some things I’d change, some things I’d do differently. Who wouldn’t? But making this movie was one of the real pleasures of my life. It was so much fun. And now, it’s an artifact of my youth, as well as an ode to a great musician, and a town in not exactly north Ontario.
© 2008
Confused, disturbed and distressed by what so-called thought leaders promoted on their LinkedIn pages, I created a short series (inspired by my blog of the same name) for those seeking an alternative. Either that or they were simply curious about how many robes I own*. This was the result.
And it was 2020 so I was home a lot.
*9
