This project was the brainchild of Dave Janssen, my business partner at Identity Arts in San Francisco.
Reacting to a epic moment ruined whilst watching an epic drama in the epic scale of a large movie theater, Dave decided that the best way to convince moviegoers, from sea to shining sea, to silence their phones was to show them just how movies get ruined.
The spot was shot over two nights at the USS Pampanito at Pier 45, and was staffed by a number of people just finishing up an epic Lucasfilm production. Everyone worked on spec, agreeing that if we did sell the spot, we would be healthily paid for our contributions.
David asked me to join the effort as Executive Producer, to market the spot, to find a sponsor, to get it out there, get the crew paid.
We partnered with AMC Theaters, showing them how they could take their existing Silence is Golden pre-show slot, and monetize it.
The impact: It garnered +125MM captive impressions over six months, and remains an early voice in a groundswell of mobile-device decency.
And after remitting the crew, the proceeds enabled us to pursue a healthy handful of passion projects in the arts + music video.