Director Pam Thomas has shot a lot of commercials.
Like, a lot.
The director may have helmed episodes of Sex and The City, Desperate Housewives and Atypical and music videos by Melissa Etheridge, Vanessa Williams and Gin Blossoms, but she is best known for her stylish and memorable :30- and :60-seconds body of work.
Along with the accolades Thomas has received and earned, comes a compendium of wanted (and unwanted) knowledge and weirdness from being on commercial sets, dealing with narcissistic copywriters and art directors and clueless clients.
All of these experiences, ranging from funny to suicidal to the truly weird, can drive a director to either take meth or create a web series.
Luckily for Thomas fans, the result is the very funny and insider Commercials. Thomas, who is a part of Community Films, has partnered with directorial collective JEAN to create the 6-episode comedic web series that takes a page from the old NBC sitcom, The Office, and takes a scalpel to the humorous, ego crushing, over-analyzed silliness that plagues the world of commercial film making and everyone involved.
Told from the unique point of view of an eccentric group of egomaniacal, yet wildly insecure commercial directors and their production company, Bird Films, Commercials satirizes the world of production.
Each episode gives a glimpse into the various aspects of commercial making and stages of production, leaving nobody unskewered in the process. Watch the pilot episode below, where a client is demanding a particular kind of actress, but not that particular, appear on set:
EPISODE 101: ETHINICALLY AMBIGUOUS from Community Films on Vimeo.
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“The world of commercial making is such a unique industry that feels so ripe for satire,” says Eric Eckelman of JEAN
“As commercial directors and former advertising creatives, we’ve experienced hundreds of completely ridiculous moments during productions where we looked at each other and said, ‘this needs to be a show,’” adds Natalie Prisco of JEAN.
In this episode, the production team has pitched an agency creative team for their Snakyz project. Did they nail it?
EPISODE 102: REALLY GREAT MEETING from Community Films on Vimeo.
Here’s a term, we’ve never heard here at Reel 360, the “mantrum.” Witness its birth as an egotistical director refuses to do what the agency has asked. What could make him change his mind?
EPISODE 103: MANTRUM from Community Films on Vimeo.
And the absurdity of the “Full Clock.”
EPISODE 104: FULL CLOCKS from Community Films on Vimeo.
And finally, a pre-production meeting goes super sideways.
EPISODE 105: GUYS AND DOLLS from Community Films on Vimeo.
According to Thomas, the plan is to find distribution for the series. She says meetings are scheduled for the coming weeks.
“We’d love Commercials to give viewers a sneak peek into what we love so much about our business and hope they find it as hilarious and fun as we do,” says Pam Thomas.
We sure hope so at Reel 360. Commercials seizes on the seemingly important, but altogether ridiculous scenarios that inherently go along with making commercials. In a sometimes hilarious manner, the series peels back the curtain on an industry that everyone is familiar with, but very few know much about.
To find out more about Commercials, click here.
Source: Community Films
Contact Colin Costello at colin@reelchicago.com.
