TV Commercial Production: Brooklyn Gum
- Posted on 3rd May 2016
- in Entertainment, entertainment books, film production book, Hollywood books, Hollywood memoirs, TV Commercial Production
- by Ben
TV commercial production
excerpt from Circumstances Beyond My Control Chapter 18 – 1983
“Ken [Licata, one of my favorite directors] is a Brooklyn Italian and speaks the language fluently and had lived and worked in Rome before we met. He still had contacts there and one of them gave him a terrific project … There was a popular chewing gum in Italy called Brooklyn Gum. The logo was the Brooklyn Bridge and their slogan was ‘la gomma del ponte’, the gum of the bridge. … It was a nine or ten day shoot… The spots were all made up of series of vignettes some of which more or less mimicked scenes from well-known movies. …
Frost Wilkinson Brooklyn Gum
“With the malign Marlene [Ficalora Productions’ staff ‘producer’] hassling me at every turn, I put together a schedule involving two or three locations per day. …
“Except for the constant annoyance of the producer aka the aggravant, I recall the job going pretty well. A classic case of her incompetence came at the horse farm. The key shot was horses running through a field at ‘magic hour’. That’s the photographer and cinematographer’s favorite time of day. Just before sunset the light is amazing. See Days of Heaven for which cinematographer Nestor Almendros won an Oscar. Practically the entire movie was shot at magic hour. … Anyhow Ken set the shot, we rehearsed and it was an hour or so before sunset. So we sat around and schmoozed. When the time came we sprang into action and hustled our buns to get two or three takes and a couple of variations of the shot. While I was up to my ears keeping this all happening the aggravant came over to me very pissed off. ‘Why do you all just sit around and do nothing and then when it’s about to get dark you rush like crazy?’ I don’t think I dignified this beetleheaded question with an answer.
“… The only other vignette I recall was shot on our terrace and was the last location of the two week shoot, July 11th. It was a sposalizio type of Italian feast. …
“From the time we had the first shot set [Elizabeth] began asking me every twenty minutes or so when I thought we were gonna wrap. I was so busy that I made nothing of this peculiar behavior and went on with my business. When the last take was in the can and I declared in stentorian tones, ‘That’s a wrap!’, applause and cheering broke out. It was not as though we were glad the job was over because we had all enjoyed it but it had been a very full two weeks and we were exhausted.
“It took the crew no more than forty-five minutes to wrap all the gear out of the apartment, Ken, Elizabeth and I schmoozed while they were doing it and Ken was the last to leave. I headed for the shower. I had gotten my shoes, socks and pants off when I heard a pounding on the door. I quickly pulled my pants back on and as I was heading toward the door I heard Ken. ‘I forgot my meter case.’ he shouted. I got my pants zipped up and opened the door.
“The small vestibule outside our front door was packed with people, the crew and several other friends. ‘Surprise!’ they yelled. I had completely forgotten that it was my birthday.
“The next few minutes were (and still are) a blur. There was a singing telegram from [my Production Assistants] Ken, Jr., Betsy Reid, Repps and Mike. Tons of food came through the door and I was absolutely flabbergasted. I probably cried. Suddenly no one was tired anymore. It was one a hell of a party. I don’t remember how long it went on but it was a while, for sure, maybe midnight before the last revelers left.
“Never before or since was I ever so moved by a demonstration of friendship as that surprise party. The next day Elizabeth and I talked about it and it became clear why she had kept asking me when the wrap was gonna be. She had to time the ladies who were bringing the food. It was an event that I will never forget.”
For more tales of TV commercial production click here to get Circumstances Beyond My Control.
Tags: Brooklyn Gum, Frost Wilkinson, Ken Licata
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