by Alex BallA fellow producer and I had a conversation yesterday, and, while we complained a bit about our jobs…that’s par for the course…we also had to admit how lucky we are to be able to earn a living doing what we do.
Just this week, for example, Shadow Productions sent it’s annual e-card out into the world. A holiday spoof, or an annual gag reel, is a great way for an advertising agency or a production house to blow off some steam at the end of the year, and it’s been going ever since the dawn of the industry. I really enjoyed our piece this year…and, because I didn’t have a single thing to do with it’s production, I feel completely free to gush about it…and to say how much fun it is working with the team at Shadow.
For many years, our head writer, Matt Dugan has sent to his close friends and family a homemade Christmas card.
“It’s partly masochism and partly because it’s fun,” says Matt, “but every year I challenge myself to come up with and hand-draw several different card ideas for different family members. Some of those are silly and aren’t for everybody (don’t tell him, but my dad’s card this year has Tom Brady in a snit over Giselle possibly being prettier than he is). But some have a broader flavor, and so last year and this year, we took ideas from my family cards and turned them into printed cards and animations for our clients and company friends.”
This year, we took one of Matt’s cards and turned it into the holiday flash animation that sits on our homepage: “When Snow Men Lie….”
Take a peek by clicking here! (It should open in a new window, so you can come back and finish this post if you want.)
click the pic
Fun, huh?
At Shadow Productions, we create materials for marketing. Although we often use humor as a tool, our main job, of course, is to communicate a point of view, or, more to the point, to sell a product.
But one of the really cool side benefits of our job is that when holiday times roll around, we get to step away from the marketing part of our brains for a while and just let our imagination off the leash…we get to try things we would never try on a client’s dime…and, 8 times out of 10, we end up with a new skill or trick we can use down the road to help our clients meet their goals…but the main thing is, it keeps us entertained.
This year, our guys had a lot of fun, and I think it shows. Doug Lang, our animator, and Rob Ostrander, our audio producer, obviously had a really good time bringing Matt’s original writing and drawing to life.
In addition, Rob got a chance to flaunt his considerable musical talent.
“This year we had a new toy,” Rob told me. “It’s a Maestro Rhythm King MkII drum machine, a vintage piece from 1970. I just love the sound of this thing. My buddy G (John Goglia), joined me to play the keyboard while I played my stand-up bass. We just had a ton of fun cheesing up some Christmas classics.”Anyway, hope you enjoy the Christmas Card…and hope you don’t mind me too much bragging on my co-workers, but Matt said it best when I interviewed him for this post:
“You know, for us it’s just about having fun, telling our clients, “thanks” and wishing everybody happy holidays. Who says you can’t have fun at work? Life’s too short.”
Yup--- that sums it up…Happy Holidays.
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