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Shooting a commercial this weekend

We’re shooting a 30-second, spec commercial this weekend for an upcoming contest. If we win, the commercial will air on the Super Bowl. Pretty cool, eh? But, it’s a spec commercial, as in “speculative”, as in “no money”. So, I wanted to let folks know what we’re doing, and if you were interested in helping out, we’d love to have you on board!

There are two key scenes that we’ll be shooting:

  • Scene 1: Pro baseball player getting ready to bat
  • Scene 2: Kid’s birthday party with piñata

Here’s what we need in the way of extras, cast, props and locations:

Scene 1: Baseball Player

Shoot on Saturday, need about 2 hours

  • Extras: 10 or so baseball fans in colorful clothes
  • Cast: Adult pro baseball player (done)
  • Props: Need baseball/softball uniform, batting helmet, gloves, wooden bat, cleats
  • Location: Baseball field, preferably at night (with lights on)

Scene 2: Piñata Party

Shoot on Sunday, need about 3 hours

  • Extras: need 6 to 8 kids ranging from 8 to 12 years old
  • Cast: need one boy (10 to 12) who can play our young baseball player
  • Props: two identical piñatas, some party banners and hats
  • Location: need to find a park
  • Need some kid wranglers to throw actual party for kids in between shots

If you’re interested, send me an email at russ@toppup.com and let me know how you’d like to help.

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Chris Plekenpol’s story about Iraq – I Am Second

From I Am Second

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Taking the gloves off

As part of our Fissure press gearing up for our launch of the Fissure DVD yesterday, I’ve been interviewed by a variety of press and news outlets. It’s been fun! I enjoy reading all the reviews, both good and bad.

This morning, I was reading a review from Casanova Shrugged. In Rene’s review, he makes this comment about me:

In a press roundtable interview at Hotel ZaZa last month I asked director Russ Pond what his follow-up project would be and he said that a children’s film was next in consideration. It didn’t surprise me in the least. Children’s films have the highest percentage of return on investment. Of course, making films is a business and you have to sell product to stay in the market, but I half-hoped Russ would have chosen to stay in the thriller genre and try to raise everything up a notch. I think Russ is a talented director and would love to see what he could do if the gloves were off, there were no punches pulled and he attacked a project without the hindrances of investor expectations, ratings, and budgetary concessions… That, I think, would be an amazing film.

I want to take the gloves off that would be fun!

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Fissure co-star, Crystal Mantecon, wraps “Tree of Life” with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn

Fissure co-star, Crystal Mantecon, recently finished up work on a new film by Terrence Malick called “Tree of Life“. Crystal plays opposite of Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.

I had a chance to travel down to Smithville where they were filming. Our first AD on Fissure, Bobby Bastarache, was Terrence’s first AD on “Tree of Life”. So, Bobby spent the evening driving me around Smithville. It was great seeing how they transformed this town to a 1950’s town. Very exciting!

Crystal plays Rachel Claris in the upcoming psychological thriller, Fissure.

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Director Russ Pond with co-star Crystal Mantecon
on the set of Fissure

Recent press regarding Crystal Mantecon:

ENVY Magazine: “… Actress Crystal Mantecón is a bona fide class act. The next-big-thing starlet just wrapped filming on Terrence Malick’s upcoming film TREE OF LIFE, which also stars Hollywood powerhouses Brad Pitt and Sean Penn…” — Madeline Hollern, Editor

Blog de Cine about Tree of Life: “La película… está protagonizada por Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Fiona Shaw y, atención al nombre, Crystal Mantecon [The film… stars Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Fiona Shaw, and pay attention to this name, Crystal Mantecón.)” — Juan Luis Caviaro

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Crystal Manteconas Rachel Claris
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Sprint Now Network Commercial – Excellent animation

As a producer, I often take on projects that can be a creative challenge to produce. One of the more challenging projects to produce is one on business statistics.

Admit it–statistics can be boring. Typically, these are done with PowerPoint slides, bar charts, spreadsheets and pie diagrams. Statistics–while important–are often not very engaging.

Until now.

Sprint did a wonderful job using statistics in a fun, flashy, educational and marketing way. This is a great 60 second commercial: