Bimmers

Protector of the

Director’s Treatment
by: Michael Martin

HOWDY

When you make a living as a comedy director, you extinguish the passion to be the “luxury car commercial guy”. This spot rekindles that flame, and I rocket past all of my pals making spots for deli meat or laundry detergent. Today, we bring some class and prestige to the world of comedy commercials. And if I do my job right, we bring some absolute silliness to BMW.

WHAT IF?

“These scripts are so perfect I love them!”
– Every director moments before suggesting changes


I don’t have “changes,” but what if we change the timing a bit? This could take place on the eve of the tourney. This plays into the course looking sparsely populated and everything still being in “prep-mode”. I propose we just add some simple dialogue to the interview to explain that our hero is preparing for their Super Bowl. This is the big game, and they are primed.

LEt’s do this

APPROACH

Let’s not reinvent the wheel or the propeller or whatever it is that BMW makes. Doc style is a well-worn path. With the pantheon of “This is SportCenter,” “The Office,” or “Veep.” We already have the winning formula.

We give an interview from our main character. That main character gets into some hijinks. That character lands a few punch lines. We put up the tag that ties it all up. The beauty is that we get to “play jazz” a little with the dialogue and actions on set. If we find something funny, we shoot it. The key is to build our production around the ability to be nimble yet elevated.

EXECUTION

Character

Dash is a real person. I intend to film him like a real person. What he does with his life is absolutely absurd, but that’s just perspective. The Tiger King, Joe Exotic, was dead-serious about his big-cat sanctuary. It was up to us, the viewer, to decide that he was the most hilarious dude we’d ever seen.

Because Dash is a real person, I want to play it straight. He’s not only a real person—he’s a success story. There must be tens of little boys and girls dreaming to one day be in the big leagues of Bimmer Protecting, and Dash is living proof it's possible. I usually spend considerable time with the actor filling in the past, present, and future of these characters so we can have more fun on set. I can’t wait to dive into Dash.

I see Dash as a mashup of Dwight Schrute (The Office), Kimmy Gibbler (Full House), and Kenny Powers (East Bound & Down).

CAMERA

Doc style also defines our camera work. We don’t need to be Modern Family about it with a zoom every 2-3 seconds. But it should feel like we are observing a natural habitat. Responsive. Vérité. Voyeuristic. All of the above; composed.

We go in with a shot list. We plan beautiful compositions when we can. We use the format's looseness to elevate and punctuate our jokes with restraint and intention.

The interview is a different story. This should feel more like an HBO or 30 for 30 setup. More polish. More prestige. The film we are making documents the bravery and audacity of the leading Bimmer Protector. Dash is an icon, and we will frame him as such.

PREMIUM

I can say, without question, I’ve never included a “Premium” section in my typical joke-driven treatment. In fact, I spelled it wrong on this first draft. But this is BMW. I would be a dummy to not spend some time making the cars look their best.

We plan to do some sunset shooting with the cars on the course to elevate the commercial and the concept to the standard of a luxury brand. Again, this will be echoed in the way we shoot Dash’s interview. We can be funny. We can have fun. But at the end of the day, we are selling cars to a discerning audience, and they should get some of what they came for.

CASTING

On every call, I say “95% of my job is done when we are casting.” Everyone chuckles, and we move on. IT'S NOT A JOKE. EVERYONE THINKS I'M JOKING. I'M NOT. THAT IS BASICALLY MY ONLY SKILL. Getting the right actor in this role is make-or-break for a character-driven spot, and I intend to find you the perfect person for the gig.

I work in Chicago a lot. There is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to comedy casting for commercials. I did a quick check with some friends to ask if they would work in STL on our budget, and several have agreed to submit. I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

Breakdown

I see this spot playing out in about 6-7 vignettes throughout our shoot day. These can evolve as we pre-produce and massage the creative.

  1. Indoor primary interview

  2. OTF interview on the course

  3. Locker room

  4. Proshop/Club House

  5. Training montage

  6. Beauty shots of the cars with and without Dash

  7. Misc course pickup broll/gags

THANK YOU

You’d think a comedy guy would land the plane with some great joke. I do it the other way around. I try (my pretty hardest) to be funny throughout and offer a heartfelt thanks in this section.

I really wasn’t kidding in my opener. I never thought I’d be able to take a swing at a car spot because I’m usually stuck with the theater kids doing improv exercises. Thank you for giving me the chance to be one of the cool kids. Let’s get to work.

FORE!