Who does this kid belong to?

Betsy took this photo. 

For the last seven months Betsy and I have been working on a campaign with one of our clients. We concepted, scripted, storyboarded and refined, refined, refined. Finally in the last two days we built a set, got all the props in and got our concept on film. It always is a surreal experience.

Our director and producer got here on Sunday to allow for talent callbacks on Monday. We sat through talent callbacks for most of the day on Monday just wanting to make sure everyone that was cast would work not only in their own scenes but cohesively across the spot as well.

Tuesday led us into our preproduction meeting. Here is where we go over the scenes/sets, talent, everyone knows where to go and how to contact anyone. It is basically the Bible of the production. It went really smoothly, and everyone is on the same page going onto set.

Wednesday was jam packed. We showed up to set super early and the construction of our sets started. The guys did such a great job and get everything set up really quickly. It's hard to explain the feeling of the vision you've had in your head for the last seven months forming in front of you by these big burly men. Once the walls started going up and fake windows were cut and placed the set started to come to life. The props started flooding in and taking their spots in each of the scenes. Everything started to be real.

Another thing we had to complete on Wednesday was getting all the talent's wardrobe chosen and fitted. You turn around and see all of the racks of clothing brought in. We definitely could have opened a pop up children's clothing store right there.

Once everything was propped, painted and lit Wednesday we were ready to shoot. The nice thing about having a set is that you don't have to worry about losing sunlight, you can spend as much time on set as you need . . . and that's exactly what we did.

Thursday we came in at eight a.m. and got started right away. Every single child on set was so incredibly well behaved. Once we got into a rhythm everything started to fall together.

On set we had the client, who made sure all of our interactions on set were authentic and appropriate to that age range which was a huge help. Our AE and producer who have been on this wild ride with us from the beginning, without the two of them nothing on this shoot would have been as buttoned up and simple as it was. Obviously the crew, who you read about above, and Betsy and I.

Honestly I don't know if there is anything better than seeing your idea become reality. Keep in mind that I am not married and do not have children. It's just a very special thing to be able to share your clients message with people through a concept you pulled from 1/2 strategy and 1/2 thin air. Without going into some sappy message, it's a pretty cool job to be able to shape the way society moves.

If you are interested in seeing photos from the shoot, please click HERE.