SDG&E - Safety Campaign

I'll never forget where I was when I got this call. We were wrapping a shoot in Cambridge, MA walking through Harvard Square on our way to dinner when Tony called. I have known him for years and respected the heck out of anything they ever had me do for them, so I told my crew to go ahead without me. I sat on a planter watching rush hour traffic go by as these guys three thousand miles away were pitching what I thought was a pie in the sky concept that they were going to present to their client. The concept behind this series of spots was two-fold. We had to illustrate powerline safety as well as natural gas safety. A bucket truck popping into a living room during a birthday party? At Christmas? Gas lineman coming up out of the floor with tidbits of safety wisdom? I loved the visuals immediately and told them I was IN.

My next call between my stoop on the side of the road and dinner was to our Art Dept lead. It must have sounded far fetched over the sound of the traffic, but I could feel the enthusiasm through the phone. He also said they he'd be surprised if it actually happened.

Three weeks later, we were all on a stage with half a house built on it and a bucket truck with a long exhaust hose snaking out the door. The project had come together quickly; we had designed sets, strategized efficiencies in maximizing the use of them, and cast sixty people from different cities. We ran into little challenges like the truck couldn't move unless it was running, but we were running audio. Hmm, so a group of Art Dept, G&E, and PA's got their workouts in that week pushing and pulling the bucket truck back and forth. Our dudes who played SDG&E field guys were fantastic. Hit me up if you ever want their names for your project. We have only great things to say about them. Their delivery and timing were quite impeccable, and the cast on the other side of the conversations really played it up in subtle yet effective ways. We created five :15's in both English and Spanish over a three-day period.