Ah, the glorious days of 2023 when we embarked on the wild adventure of shooting the Under commercial. We were armed with nothing but enthusiasm and some old equipment that had seen better days. As we set up our scenes, each shot felt akin to crafting a modern-day Picasso painting, right there amidst the wobbling camera angles and rogue background co-workers that thought they owned the place. But hey, if there's one thing you learn from shooting under such conditions, it’s that sometimes chaotic creativity leads to unexpected gems—and laugh-out-loud moments that just can't be scripted! So here’s to those low-budget shenanigans; without them, our Under commercial might have actually been… well, serious!
Fun fact: It was Parth Akoliya, who plays the agent in the commercial, first speaking role. Well done Parth. Your acting made us feel the real issues of being a sales agent.
It was great for our own team to literally see how their product helps sales agents, even if it was make-believe! We even auditioned some of our own crew to see if they could fit the role of the sales agent or janitor. We were close with one of our full-stack developers, Will McKinney. Sorry Will, maybe next time. Unfortunately, Will was working hard on the product and had to stay focused providing our customers with the best product support possible. If anyone needs a camera ready developer/actor, you know who to call!
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It took a laborious two days to complete this shoot, on a shoestring budget no less. Hats off to the crew who worked tirelessly to pull this off. As a company, we were particularly excited by the script, which highlights the humor in the day-to-day life of a sales agent. The janitor in the commercial was a fun addition, serving as the voice of reason when things went off the rails with late night sales calls. There were a few important things to consider for this shoot, including location. 1871, a co-working space in the merchandise mart in Chicago, was generous enough to let us shoot during their business hours. What ended up being a blessing also ended up being a curse, because lets face it, a bustling co-working space is not the best environment for catching good audio. Luckily our audio department was up to the task of barricading off corridors with sound proofing portable walls and letting us know when things were getting too crazy down the hall. Thanks again 1871 for being the backdrop to our story!
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