Below is the uncut SpadeClub TV commercial. We have created this version in hopes that through a small call to action in the version that is airing that we will drive some addition traffic to the website. Secondarily, we are going to post it online on various sites, such as YouTube, CollegeHumor, etc, in hopes generating some viral traffic. This version is way more suggestive and drawn out. And, I love the music.
On Tuesday I was in L.A. doing the shoot for the new SpadeClub commercial. Originally we were going to do two different commercials, the beach scene and a green screen spot that promoted a Card Player magazine giveaway. I decided to hold off on the second one until Brittany is back.
The beach scene shot took place at a serene beach in Malibu called Leo Carrillo. I was thrilled at the prospect of being able to “work” on the shoot while at a Southern California beach in August. I even wore my swim suit so I could take a dip on breaks. Unfortunately, the reality was that I was freezing and needed a jacket. It was barely over 70 with 20+ mile per hour wind gusts. Too bad for my beach day and a pain for the commercial. The actors were continually getting sand in their eyes and many takes had to be reshot because Lalani’s hair was in a whirl.
The whole thing ended up taking about 12 hours (I can’t imagine what it’s like to shoot a feature film) and thanks to the professionalism and organization of the production company, Showreel, and the director, Eric Jackson we have a pile of good footage. Eric took our idea and script and put it into logical angles and cuts. He filmed so many different options, I bet there are a thousand possibilities for the end product. Eric is in the edit bay today and should have the first cut by tomorrow. It will be posted.
SpadeClub.com is in the midst of a major national TV ad campaign (at least to us, maybe not to Budweiser). Our commercial airs on the Game Show Network Sundays on High Stakes Poker and Monday – Saturday on NBC on Poker After Dark. Our current commercial has been up for over 3 months and it is time to freshen up.
For the last month, Brittany Giacolleto (also known as PokerBrit), our Spokesperson, and I have been working on the concept for the commercial. Side note: we are lucky in that our spokesperson is also one of our marketing project managers. Since we advertise primarily on 2 specific poker shows, and the viewers probably understand how we are different from typical online poker, we decided we could effectively move away from an informational spot to something that is more fun and content-based. With that in mind, PokerBrit came up with the concept “poker is not hard” which is a 30-second story of boy meets girl on the beach with high sexual tension that ends up to be tension from a poker decision (drum roll/cymbal crash). If all goes well in production, which it should because the crew we are using is excellent, it should be funny and memorable.
Get well Brit!
With the script set, the production crew and director hired, and the Malibu beach reserved, we were ready to do the shoot on July 20th. On the 18th I received a text from a colleague that said: “Brittany in huge car accident last night just got operated at the Sunrise Hospital.” The vagueness of the text really left too much for the imagination, and I feared the absolute worst. While the injuries were/are bad, I was relieved to find out that she was going to make a full recovery. Unfortunately, there were 5 days of hospital time and at least 2 months of recovery to come. This left me with no choice but to find another actress for the spot.
Throughout the process of casting for a new actress I found myself feeling like bagging the whole commercial. The casting agent went through over 100 girls, but we just couldn’t find a good fit. Part of the problem was that I was trying to find another Brit and that’s not possible. However, towards the end of the search we found a very qualified actress for the part, Lalani. She has a slight accent, but brings a voice coach to all of her shoots so we should be able to hide it. The shoot will take place this Monday and I will update the blog along the way.
Here is the video of Lalani. The script they used for the casting is not the one we are using for the shoot. It will be way more subtle. I realize this seems like an audition for an adult film, but it’s not:
