Live from New York … it's Jason Sudeikis.
The former Saturday Night Live cast member appears in "The Tourists," a 45-second video from BBDO promoting AT&T's sponsorship of the Tribeca Film Festival, which runs through April 26 (and features three movies starring Sudeikis).
In the clip, the actor encounters two out-of-towners who start "directing" him, Hollywood style, as one of them captures the moment with a smartphone. The tagline is: "There's a film lover in all of us."
Ah yes, mobile technology turns us all into would-be auteurs, roving the streets in search of a scene that just might go viral. Celebs, of course, make great subjects, and they're usually glad to do a few takes when fans whip out recording devices.
Oddly, though, the spot tacitly acknowledges that much of today's compelling content isn't made by professional filmmakers or entered in festivals. Increasingly, it's being created by average folks when opportunities arise—and distributed online, with a few clicks as the price of admission.
Sudeikis "prepped" for his role a few years back when he and his fiancee, Olivia Wilde, made news—and I use the term loosely and with extreme irony—by helping some real tourists in NYC find their way.
Now we know he can take directions as well as give them.
CREDITS
Client: AT&T
Agency: BBDO New York
Chief Creative Officers: David Lubars (worldwide), Greg Hahn (N.Y.)
Executive Creative Director: Matt MacDonald
Senior Creative Directors: John LaMacchia, Simon Foster
Associate Creative Director: Geoff Proud
Senior Art Director: Will Holmes
Group Executive Producer: Julie Collins
Executive Producer: Alex Gianni
Producer: Gillian Burkley
Managing Director: Mark Cadman
Senior Director: Brian Nienhaus
Account Director: Gail Curtis
Account Executive: Sigourney Hudson-Clemons
Production Company: O-Positive
Director: Brian Billow
Director of Photography: Joe Zizzo
Executive Producers: Ralph Laucella, Marc Grill
Producer: J.D. Davison
Editing House: Mackenzie Cutler
Producer: Sasha Hirshfeld
Editor: Ryan Steele
Assistant Editor: Jean Taylor
Color Correction: Company 3
Colorist: Tim Masick
Visual Effects: Schmigital
Flame Artist: Jim Hayhow
Flame Assistant: Joseph Miller
