Long Lost Blog

Ahem. Well, I kinda forgot I had this blog with the flurry of new ways to express myself online (Twitter, etc.: joescreative). My apologies to my legions of followers. I have since been installed as Senior Creative Director at Viva Creative (http://www.producedbyviva.com/) where I am on point with a diverse array of digital interactive and experiential clients all over the world. Crazy exciting stuff. The incredible range of new ways to engage audiences is growing daily. It's a great time to be a communicator. So, follow me on Twitter and I'll venture to update on the happenings at Viva Creative as they develop (although the client NDA's often preclude a big honking blogpost)!

Super Bowl 2008 New Ad!

The latest ad I directed (with props to my main man, Steve Bassett, from Martin Agency) for GEICO aired during the Super Bowl! Whoo-hoo! For those of you who missed it, here's a link I pulled from youtube last night: http://youtube.com/watch?v=m9Dognr3BII It was a great experience working with Martin, and the whole cavemanscrib.com and geicogarage.com creative team...from my interactive web partner in crime Sieg Fuster, to Charlie Kendall and Ted Terrenoire from Moon Bounce Media...to my L.A. production team at Art Works Hollywood, headed up by Ms. Can-Do Herself, Doreen Murphy, producer extraordinaire. The Martin Team was there in full force too, with Steve Bassett, Holly Flaisher, and Adam Stockton. Rebecca Foss was heading up the GEICO contingent, and a crazy amount of creativity was flying all over the place.

It was a cool experience particularly, because I directed this National spot coming off the shoot for GEICO's new interactive site (coming 2/16) http://geicogarage.com. Sieg Fuster developed the site with me and I directed with co-writing from Ted Terrenoire and all the usual creative stylings of the above mentioned team! What a blast hanging out with Doug Barnette, Mike Wallace, Lauren Wallace, Max Papis, Paul Tracy, Chritian Fittipaldi, and Tommy Kendall. Those guys rock. I should have stayed with go-karts. I could be an international man of mystery like those dudes. What a life!

Party Like A Rock Star

Well it was "months in the making," as the man says, now the party at caveman's crib has finally begun!

Visitors to cavemanscrib.com, who in the past could only interact with our intrepid cavemen preparing for the party, can now experience the devastation of the morning after and watch all manner of camera phone video of the party itself.

http://cavemanscrib.com

On the phone, select "Prep & Party" to intereact with the cavemen in their frantic preparation mode or "Snooze & Rejuve" to experience the ragged morning after and investigate the video evidence spread all around the "crib."

300

300? Loved it.

Now, before you haters launch your sun-blotting cloud of arrows, keep in mind that to best appreciate a film, you need to understand it's context. 300 was not produced by BBC Television. It was not produced by the History Channel. It was not produced by Bruckheimer or Fox News. Anyone with half a brain could watch the trailer and know that this was going to be a crazy, stylized gladiator picture with lots of violence, sword-hacking and testosterone.

This is Sparta, G.

Sure, everyone has a waxed chest. Sure, it's not historically accurate. So what?! It rocks. I haven't seen so much crazy hacking swordplay since the Sinbad movies of the 1950's. What, you were expecting Russell Crowe? From the talented minds of that brought you Sin City? Okay, so it's a glorification of violence. That's true. But virtually every little boy, even those raised in pacifist communes, at some point will pick up a stick and turn it into a sword, spear or gun. It's in the D.N.A. Don't get me wrong...I don't recommend showing this film to children. It's not a kid's movie, brain scientist. It's a film for big boys. The ladies may like it, too, but this film definitely appealed to the big kid in me. I wanted to grab a sword and jump up to contribute to the body count! Reality check: I'd probably slip on the sand and fall off the cliff. I guy can fantasize, can't he?

And that's really the point. Sure, it's based on an historical event, but it's fantasy. Who buys a ticket to ride the carousel imagining that it's going ride like a wooden roller coaster? Or vice versa? Cranky people, that's who.

300 rocks. As long as you have the proper expectation.

For those of you looking for the Discovery Channel? It's on cable.

Just Only Joe

The title of this blog comes from a childhood book by Jack Kent, called "Just Only John." When I learned to read, I pronounced it "Just On-(as in lightswitch)-ly John." In fact, I still pronounce it that way. I guess a good speech therapist could straighten that out. Hm. "Just On-ly John" is the story of a little boy who wants to be anybody or anything but himself. I think that's what attracted me to the story initially. Of course, it wouldn't be a good story if the kid never changed back into himself, right? Truthfully, I was actually kind of frightened at the prospect. Think about it: "Wheeeeee! I can change into a bunny! What fun! Oops, now I can't change back. Heyyyy, what's that guy in the orange vest doing with that shotgun? Uh-oh." Blam! End of story. On-ly John could have ended up as the undersleeve of Erin Moran's rabbit fur jacket. On the other hand, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad gig for 1978, minus the getting skinned part.

The tale of "Just Only John" had a lot of impact on me then, and now. It's certainly more fun to imagine yourself as someone other than yourself, now and again. As an actor, I don't deny that it was fun to put on chain mail and swing around a sword or to roll around in comic scenes with a scullery maid. Not that I'm not comfy in my own skin, mind you. But look at Halloween. The H'ween is all about being in someone else's skin for a while, right? That's why it's so popular.

As long as you can change back.

cavemanscrib.com

"It's so easy to use geico.com, a caveman could do it."

The phrase that inspired the creation of these popular GEICO spots has also inspired the creation of cavemanscrib, an interactive website produced by Siegfred Fuster and yours truly (Joe Talbott, in case you stumbled onto this blog), it's an interactive website where users are "welcomed" to a party at the GEICO caveman's crib. While the cavemen are setting up for their party, you are free to roam about. Almost everything is clickable, meaning that you can really screw around with their stuff while they're not paying attention. On the off chance that you mess with their stuff and they catch you, well, you're on your own. They don't suffer fools gladly. Two of my favorite moments include catching one of them in the shower (just keep reading) and having one of them try on different combinations of pants and shirts. They have multiple reactions to all of the poking and prodding, so a good time will be had by all. Your boss, on the other hand, may view this use of company assets rather dimly.

Of course, there are Easter eggs here and there for some added treatage.

Based on the popular GEICO television characters created by Joe Lawson at the Martin Agency, cavemanscrib is a joint partnership between GEICO's in house Marketing and Communications departments. GEICO Marketing's Ted Ward (Creativity Magazine Top 50 Creatives of 2006) and Amy Markle championed the concept. Siegfred Fuster came up with the caveman's apartment interactive environment. I came up with the story, directed the filming and wrote copy along with significant writing and conceptual contributions by Zev Kanter. Moonbounce Media D.P. Charlie Kendall shot the piece. Ted Terrenoire contributed copy. Graham Dodge was the set decorator and Doreen Murphy of Artworks Hollywood was Production Manager in L.A. Lead web developer was Siegfred Fuster along with web design and web development by Llenell Evangelista and Peggy Mandanas.

Small crew = maximum creativity...or is it small crew = maximum sleep deprivation? Are the two mutually exclusive?

I digress.

Enjoy!