Any child of the 1980’s is at least familiar with the popular t.v. show “The A-Team”, which in many ways is the quintessential 80’s show that also made an icon out of Mr. T. Both our company C.E.O. and myself were huge fans as kids and we recently collaborated on a parody of the show’s intro. Parodying popular things may not be difficult for a creative person or people but making in fit within the borders of another topic, joke, or a company’s services is far more challenging. Making a show about 4 escaped special-forces commandos turned fugitive mercenaries relate to digital marketing might be impossible for some but the boss and I did it in about an hour or so, and over text messages nonetheless. I love the creative process and I absolutely love collaborating with the boss, our senses of humor are very closely aligned and it helps that we were both born in the same generation and grew up fans of cinema and TV programming. This has the potential to be spoofed for both video and radio and we have already picked different staff members to the play the characters, just by luck, we have some great matches for the roles.
Because of my involvement in these commercials, I find myself paying more attention to the nuances in the voices of my colleagues, seeing how they might be used in an ad, what characters they might be a good fit for, looking for hidden talent. I made a recent talent discovery in the course of a script reading with the boss not long ago, one that I’m still shocked I didn’t know about. Being a sci-fi loving Trekkie, (also a technology buff and a restaurant quality super nerd) it appears that our modest, mild-mannered company president has been hiding a pretty decent William Shatner impression, one that I now hope to exploit in a Rescue 911 Parody….after the Star Trek sketch, of course. If more people knew about T.J. Hooker, I’d be all over that too. I have a feeling the boss is going to regret ever exposing his inner Kirk.
Also being discussed are Parodies of “Americas Most Wanted”, the popular medical drama “House and the long-running Fox classic “Cops”. More to come on these.
Speaking of video, we will be taking our marketing/branding to the next level soon, as the boss has recently invested in a 4k digital camera. Our resident Tech of All Trades, Ian Davis has been salivating at the opportunity to dabble in video production and I know his bright, beautifully warped, young mind is brimming with ideas, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with. I have a few projects myself that I’m hoping to direct. Video opens up a world of both possibilities and challenges for us, production becomes much more complicated, production costs are considerably higher and there will be plenty of “oh sh#t” moments and lots of “Arrrrrgghhh’s” and “Doh’s” but, figuring it all out is going to be a lot of fun.
Also in production, a Crocodile Hunter themed ad written by yours truly and a Pro Wrestling promo parody being written and directed by our new Sales Manager, Nathan Mason. Nathan has some great ideas and is working on a new podcast for the company, the possibilities are endless for that project and I am looking forward to hearing it.
Be sure to read upcoming blog posts by our own Ian Davis and Maile Collier. Ian will be going into further detail about his web series and future video productions so keep an eye for that.
Until next time.……