Production Diary – Battleship: Live The Game

It’s a select group of people who can say they spent the President’s Day weekend in the Oval Office, and thanks to my latest spec spot – BATTLESHIP : LIVE THE GAME – a few more names can be added to that list. Getting there was no easy feat, however – learning only a few days ahead of time that I’d have an opportunity to shoot in the President’s Fortress Of Solitude, I had to rapidly assemble a blockbuster crew.

Über-producer Christina Ferguson was on the phone right away, securing equipment, making deals and calling in favors as part of the dark art known as “accelerated pre-production.” Meanwhile, Jason “The Coach” Cochard jumped at the challenge of capturing the most recognizable office in the world in new and exciting ways. This was our first collaboration, and if his enthusiasm and ingenuity during our storyboard sessions and walkthroughs (not to mention his love of 2.35) is any indication, it won’t be our last.

The project reunited us with the incredible young Curt Roland – pictured above – who was kind enough to lend his talents to the role of the most powerful man in the world. The opportunity to work with him was something I was especially looking forward to, since I knew it meant I could finally make good on a promise I made on QUIET GAME that his next part would be more fun than “brother abused by sister.”

?Three terrific collaborators – Michael Walker, Jeff Vernon and Bill Eldrich – nailed their auditions to fill out our cast as Generals of land, sea and air. And Sean Dryke, one of our all-time favorites, showed up to steal the show as a Secret Service agent who’s always there for the President – whether it be for taking a bullet or giving him a high five.

In spite of some last-minute near-catastrophes that threatened to leave us shooting in an empty room devoid of any and all plant life, everything fell into place just in time for our Saturday morning shoot. We made our way through an incredible amount of setups, thanks in no small part to the efforts of Avi “A Headache And A Subway Sandwich” Youabian, Phil “Visual Effects Demi-God” Broste and Tim “The Guns” Carras coming out to show their support, not to mention Jason’s right-and man – Dwight “Solid As A Rock” Stone.

?One of the best parts of the shoot came as we were setting up our final shot with Curt – my phone buzzed to let me know that SHOOT FOR THE MOON, our first film together, has been accepted into the spring session of the box[ur]shorts Film Festival! Curt’s eyes lit up when he was told that our movie was going to be seen all around the world, and it seemed like a sign that LIVE THE GAME was going to be a success.

After a slight mishap involving the loss of a stop sign attached to our van keys – don’t ask – we had all the footage we needed for what will be, fingers crossed, the greatest Battleship commercial ever made. A huge thanks goes out to everyone who loaned their talents to the shoot and helped everything go so smoothly. Keep checking back to see the finished product in the TV Spots section of the site in the next couple of weeks!