As soon as the contract was signed, Fuse called NuContext and let us know Carson was up for just about anything.  Fuse wanted to capitalize on Carson’s mega-star status and play down the fact that his show was already airing on NBC.  Four brainstorming meetings and over thirty concepts later, we decided to show Carson as an “every man”, searching for his perfect match, like in a dating commercial.

Our teenage TRL dreams came true and Carson was a delight to work with.  He admitted feeling a bit nervous about acting, since hosting is his main gig.  But our director Declan Whitebloom made him feel at ease and a rockin’ day was had by all.

Fast forward to 2011.  We got a call from the Foos’ manager.  They were getting ready to go out on the road and wanted to do a commercial to promote the North American leg of their world tour.  I thought, “Cool, we’ll get some rockin’ live footage, cut it together with some music video footage, and bam, we’ve got a cool promo.”  But this is the Foo Fighters we’re talking about.  They wanted to do something a bit…different.  And Dave Grohl wanted to direct.

Somewhere in the dark recesses of Dave’s brain, the image of truckers soaping up to the strains of “Body Language” refused to go away.  And now, he decided, was the time to share it with the world.  For their tour commercial, the band would disguise themselves as bearded truck drivers.  As they got into the showers, we’d reveal their true identities, and in the end, the guys would reveal it ALL.

As you might imagine, not everyone in the band shared Dave’s enthusiasm for baring it all.  The other guys swallowed their pride and went along.  But minutes before we were going to roll, Pat decided he just couldn’t go through with it.  Backstage in the locker room, Dave noticed a mop and bucket, and on the spot wrote a new character into the video: the shocked janitor who discovers the guys soaping each other up.  It was a happy accident that made for one of the most memorable parts of the video, and a fan favorite.

We spent about three hours getting the individual shots of the guys in the shower at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, our cameraman stopping every five minutes or so to clean the steam off of his lens.  It was Dave’s idea to keep the boots and the hats on during the shower scene.  We had Queen’s “Body Language” blasting in the background the entire time to keep the guys inspired.

When Dave decided to pour water from his boot over his head, we all cringed…the boots were rentals from a wardrobe studio and God only knows how many disgusting feet had sweat in them before.  But Dave went for it.  And he didn’t just pour the dirty, filthy brown water over his head once.  He did it three times, just for safety.  That is what I call dedication to the craft.

But the insanity wasn’t over yet.  After the Canadian leg of the tour was done, we’d have to steal the Foo Fighters for one more day in order to get the shots of the truck stop.  And in order to do that, we’d need…a truck stop.  A real, dirty, trucker-filled truck stop.  So we scoured Southern California’s trucking routes in search of our next location.  The winner was just off the I-5 freeway in Castaic, CA.  It looked like the bikini girl air fresheners and the hot dogs hadn’t been changed since the ‘80s.  It even had a “Hot Buns” sign.  Dave loved the place so much he even hired one of the truck stop employees to be in the video.

Once we finished editing the spot, the Foo Fighters showed their buns to the world.  The reaction was exactly what they hoped for.  Fans loved it.  Conservatives hated it. The Westboro Baptist Church psychos even protested against it.  The tour was a success.  And the Foo Fighters reminded us all how to keep it clean.

Video game maker THQ had a very cool product on their hands: uDraw, a wireless tablet controller that worked with the Wii, Playstation, and XBox game consoles.  It could be used to control action games, create artwork, provide family entertainment, and much more.  The uDraw game tablet had already been launched, but THQ was looking for a new commercial ad campaign that was more vibrant and fun than their previous one.  They also wanted to appeal to both kids and the parents who’d be buying the product.  And to keep the campaign unified, the ads also had to be appropriate to air in the international market.

The Solution

NuContext gave THQ a wide range of options for the uDraw campaign, evoking emotions from laughter to wonder.  Using the budget as our guide, we let our imagination run wild and presented concepts involving beautifully clean graphics, fast-and-loose man on the street demonstrations, and more.

THQ fell in love with an idea that used camera movements and clever seamless transitions to show the almost limitless possibilities this new game interface offered.  A splash of rainbow paint (inspired by the uDraw packaging art) was the unifying element, taking the viewer through living rooms populated by excited kids and families.  In order to have maximum impact, we tailored four different spots featuring different uDraw products and software to appeal to different target demographics. And keeping the action free of dialogue meant that a simple voice-over translation was all that THQ would need to air the spots internationally.

As NuContext writers worked with THQ to hone the language of the spot, our director and live-action producers carefully planned each shot.  Before a single frame was shot, motion graphics were being designed and tested.

All the planning paid off handsomely.  The shoot was easy breezy.  Back at NuContext, the editorial process was quick and painless.  And the graphics, which could have been a major drag on our deadline, were dropped into the spot and looked beautiful.

Wait, two weeks?  Two weeks to find our Chuck surrogate and cast the other actors, scout locations, shoot three spots, color correct, edit, mix, and deliver everything?  That would be an almost impossibly tight schedule.  But as the song says, the eyes of the ranger were upon us, and we didn’t want to let Walker down.

The job was awarded to us on a Thursday.  Over the next several days, NuContext producers met with 15 different Chuck-alikes before finding the right guy.  We scouted dozens of locations before finding a house in Pacific Palisades that would work for all three of our set-ups.  After a week and a day, we were on set with a full cast and crew, knocking out shots like Walker knocks out cattle rustlers.  We knew we were on to something good when some local jaded skater kids got star-struck at the sight of our lead actor.

After shooting all day on Friday, we immediately got to work editing.  Jeff DiFiore from Cloo sat in on the edit sessions.  By the end of the weekend, we had three first cuts to pass along to the network bigwigs on Monday.  And by the middle of the day on Tuesday, after a few editorial tweaks, we had three approved spots.  Final finishing was done the next day.  By that Thursday, exactly two weeks from the time Cloo first contacted us, the spots were delivered.

And Chuck Norris was pleased with our tribute.  Or at least we assume he was, since we’re all still breathing.

NuContext had worked with Fuse on main titles, episodics, promos, and PSAs.  So when they called with a new job, we were ready for anything…except possibly this.  “Would you be available to shoot a series of spots with the Foo Fighters to promote a fan-made video contest?”  Um, yes…yes, I think we could work that into our schedule.

The Solution

The brains at NuContext immediately started storming. The spots had some business to get across – the Foo Fighters were inviting fans to make videos for the songs on their new album.  But they also had to be irreverent, energetic, visually arresting, and funny – Foo Fighters style.  Dozens of concepts were fleshed out and presented to the network and the band, and lead Foo Fighter Dave Grohl got most excited about one centered around the phrase, “THIS VIDEO SUCKS.”  In an unexpected move, Grohl contacted NuContext directly and offered tons of hilarious input.  We were more then happy to work with him to bring his vision to life.

And what was that vision?  Well, it involved the Foo Fighters as human piñatas, angry dwarves with sticks, pyrotechnics, celebrity pals, a friend of the band in drag, and an ex-porn star.

Yup.

Was NuContext up to the task?  You bet. Our production team worked closely with the Dave and the Foos’ management team, using some creative framing and set dressing to squeeze 3 sets out of the band’s studio compound and parking lot.  Knowing that the band was in the midst of an album launch, we worked with speed and precision, getting all the shots and performances we needed for several spots in one afternoon.

Back at NuContext’s headquarters, our editor was tuned into Dave’s frequency, making the spots come together easily and quickly.  Fuse was delighted when the spots went viral.  And the Foo Fighters liked it so much they hired us to shoot two music videos, a behind the scenes spot, and a tour commercial.

When their High School Musical movies achieved massive success, Disney knew they had a bona fide cultural event on their hands, so it was only natural to give their viewers more by spinning off the HSM characters into their own movies.  Sharpay, the high-fashion, high-maintenance wanna-be actress played by Ashley Tisdale, was all set to take on Broadway in Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure.  All that was left was to develop an on-air campaign that would convey the movie’s energy, attitude, high production value.  It had to educate viewers on the unique DVD bonus features.  And it had to showcase the charm and chemistry of the stars, including a Yorkshire terrier.

The Solution

Nu Context started by presenting a series of concepts for studio shoots that would bring to life Sharpay’s pink-hued world.  But the client was in love with the idea of going big; he wanted the lights and glamour of Broadway.  A New York shoot just wasn’t in the budget, so we went old-school Hollywood and booked the Fox backlot.

And then it rained.

But we had a fabulous adventure to promote, so a little rain on our outdoor set wasn’t going to stop us.  Producers Angela Guice and Jessie Marcus streamlined the schedule right there on the spot.  The amazing crew worked around the rain, using all their skills to get the talent and clients through the shoot while staying as dry as possible.  Disaster averted.

Understandably, the client had concerns that the promos for their sparkly, energetic movie would look glum and damp.  But the NuContext crew worked their magic.  On the set, lighting and camera work made a rainy Los Angeles movie set look like a vibrant New York street.  Our post-production team had no problem digitally removing rain from the images and the pitter-patter of a winter shower from the audio.  NuContext editors, in conjunction with our graphic designers and audio engineers, crafted the original footage into a series of snappy, fun spots.

Disney was delighted with the result, and their High School Musical franchise got a bright new star – selling 234,000 copies in it’s first wee, debuting at number 9 on the DVD sales charts. After six weeks of release, it sold over 400,000 copies and made over $7 million in sales – and over 4.9 million viewers when the movie debuted on Disney channel.

In addition to being a veritable swiss army knife of production Wade plays a mean guitar, likes riding through the back roads of So Cal on his motorcycle, and taking sunrise trips to the beach with his wife Sara and their boxer Segundo.