In late March, I had this idea for a men’s grooming spot. The reality of an extended quarantine had kicked in and the sad piano of COVID-19 commercials had begun airing. I needed to laugh with other people and figured it was worth the price of my own dignity. I wrote the copy and shot the main story a day or two later. One of the things I don’t have at home is a light kit, so I set up some shop lights outside the bathroom window (I had to put them on the hood of my car to get high enough). I cut up some cardboard boxes for flags and used pillowcases and toilet paper for diffusion. I was very careful with the toilet paper since it was worth its weight in gold. I recorded the voiceover in my booth the following morning and pieced everything together, leaving the product section blank.
I sent it out to a few smaller companies, with one particularly in mind. They tossed it around for awhile but didn’t bite. Then I reached out to Austin-based Disco, and they responded right away. They sent me some product and I wrote and recorded new copy, shot the product middle, added supers, and sent them a finished version.
I’d already decided to offer this production as a donation, having been inspired by the directors and creatives that were offering pro bono services to small businesses. Whether they use it or not is beside the point— I just needed to make something funny and share it.
Check out more work from Greg Sunmark.
