WARNING. Politically provocative post!
Waaay back in 2003 I found out that Moveon.org was running an advertisement competition. The concept? Criticize key points of then President George Bush’s policies in 30 seconds of screen time. I really, really wanted to win! I decided to make 3 of them and submit them for the competition. You know, the more the merrier!
Why did I want to win? I really had concerns about some of the policies I saw in the government at the time… AND I wanted to get myself on the map in terms of directing commercials that were edgier and perhaps shocking. I considered myself quite the insurrectionist…. and I wanted to showcase my directorial style, which at that time was: Opinionated Rebel.
The ads would be judged by a panel of celebrity judges, consisting of Jack Black, Benny Boom, Donna Brazile, James Carville, Margaret Cho, Hector Elizondo, Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Stan Greenberg, Ted Hope, Michael Mann, Moby, Michael Moore, Mark Pellington, Tony Shalhoub, Russell Simmons, Michael Stipe, Gus Van Sant, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Jessica Lange, and Eddie Vedder.
The winning ad was to be aired on CBS during the Super Bowl half-time. This was a pretty big deal.
Two of my ads got into the competition and I flew to NYC for the big event. More on that later. I’ll start by showing you the Ad that didn’t get into the competition and then I’ll show you my 2nd place and my 1st place in the days to come.
Would I make ads like this now? Probably not. (Even though I think many of the issues are on the table again and are worth ruminating on) I think these were Ads that spoke to people that were ALREADY on board with this perspective. Unfortunately, for those with opposing views, all it did was antagonize and ridicule them. Not very effective. And I’m not on board with ridicule as a means of discussion anymore. I’ve found since then that things are far more complex than we may think. Both ’sides’ have perspectives worth listening to.
I’ve learnt a lot since then as a Director (and a HUMAN)… so consider this a look into my past creativity. A snapshot of my past arrogance and vitriol.
Here’s “God’s Children”... More to come.
My video is at DLive