How did the PSA campaign come about? What was the vision from the beginning?
This is personal for me. I grew up playing catch with my dad. He is a bit hyper-active for sure, and maybe that was a part of it, since he always found something to toss. After work, weekends, whenever—he made time, all the time, to play catch.
I grew up into a somewhat fearless woman who has managed to have an amazing career in a male dominated profession, yet I never gave much thought about how playing catch with my father made me who I am. I heard a report on the benefits of father-daughter time, and soon after, my dad came over to our house. I watched with interest as his usual instinct kicked in and he asked my friend’s child to play catch. I noticed the familiar compliments immediately started flowing: “Nice catch.” “Good throw.” My friend commented to me: “No wonder you are who you are, look what you grew up with...” This was the impetus for the piece. A continuous game of catch between real fathers and daughters. A love letter—a letter of gratitude—to my own father, who at 80 still loves to throw a ball. He even appears at the end of the piece.
How were you able to execute that vision? Any details on the production and postproduction process?
As a commercial Director/DP duo, we travel all over the country with our camera for different projects. Half of the people that wound up in the piece we found and shot after we were finishing a regular commercial shoot. Others we knew through friends and friends of friends.
Editors Scott Chestnut and Ben Welmond handled post, with Ben doing the majority of the work. For the PSA, we shortened it a bit and added a title card at the end. Everything else stayed the same. This includes our daughter Ruby’s VO. Countless nights she neglected her homework and sat with us in our walk-in closet/sound studio as we changed our script and re-recorded her beautiful voice.
How was the collaboration with Ad Council?
A dream come true and a great story. In 1989 I worked at Backer Spielvogel Bates as a junior art director and I became close friends with one of the executive assistants, Patti Kole. Twenty-eight years later, I see on Facebook that Patti works at the Ad Council. I reached out to Patti and arranged a meeting while we were in New York for the Tribeca Film Festival. At the same time, Priscilla Cohen, the Chief Creative Officer at Wondros, saw a billboard for Fatherhood.gov and suggesting that I contact them for our finished project. During the meeting with the Ad Council, we learned that Fatherhood.gov was their client. We always wanted this piece to be used for the right reason, and Fatherhood.gov was the perfect fit. Within two weeks everything we wanted for this project was going to happen.
What is the Plan with the PSA campaign?
Get it in front of as many people as possible! To initiate a simple game of catch that can lead to a true connection that is lasting in so many ways.
Wondros' Riess|Hill directed the spot.
