Art Center College of Design Film alumnus directs national Mother’s Day commercial for Chevrolet

Art Center College of Design Film alumnus directs national Mother’s Day commercial for Chevrolet, captures powerful life worth living story in 30 seconds

“The Extra Mile,” a film by Jake Viramontez of Los Angeles will air on television this weekend in honor of Mother’s Day. The 30-second film, featuring the 2014 Chevrolet Equinox, was one of 13 finalists for the Chevroletand MOFILM film competition announced last year.

“We chose ‘The Extra Mile’ because it’s a beautiful tribute to what Mothers’ Day is all about – a day to honor mothers and show appreciation for all of the special things they do every day,” said Paul Edwards, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet Marketing.

Viramontez, a recent graduate of the Film department at Art Center College of Design, was inspired by a perfect morning described by his sister, mother to his 18-month old niece, and cast his friends and their child in the spot.

http://youtu.be/Yz2p_WSg-yc

The spot, Viramontez’s first commercial, was shot in one very long day. His prior work has focused on documentaries.

Last June, Chevrolet announced the filmmaking contest and worked with MOFILM to call for submissions from its filmmakers throughout the world. Twenty-four early submissions received mentorship by a panel of celebrity experts and prominent professionals. “The Extra Mile” was one of 13 finalists chosen from nearly 200 scripts and 72 films from 34 countries.

As a part of this Chevrolet and MOFILM program, Viramontez received mentorship from Jon Landau, the Academy Award®-winning producer of “Titanic” and “Avatar.”
“The Extra Mile” was a finalist in the same Chevrolet and MOFILM program that produced “Speed Chaser” that aired during the 2014 Oscars® broadcast on ABC.

BACKGROUND:

Jake Viramontez was busy making documentaries until he came across an announcement about a contest to make a commercial for Chevrolet. After a real life experience produced a concept for the spot, he submitted his idea and was picked as a finalist from nearly 300 entries from 34 countries. As a first-time commercial director, he admits to some anxiety along the journey. But the Hollywood and advertising industry heavyweights who mentored him through the creative process helped calm his nerves.

Read on to learn the details of this possible career-launching opportunity and prestigious competition.

What was the creative brief?

Brief: A life worth living is a life that is shared. Often our most genuine moments are those that allow us to connect with others yet, they are so easily overlooked. They are the significant ones, disguised as the small ones. It’s the moments where we are needed, and we need others. Where we love and are loved. Where we laugh together, cry together, have new experiences together, belong together. Make a film that shines a light on a simple yet significant human moment. Not a ‘life’ moment but a moment in life where you truly connect with someone else.
My end result: A young Mother and Father wake up to the sound of a crying baby. The mother begins getting out of bed as the father stops her, “I’ll get her.” The father consoles the baby and sneaks out of the house to the Chevy Equinox sitting in the driveway. The father and daughter go on a magic ride through downtown Los Angeles. Tall building and bright lights excite the baby and keep her happy. The dad opens the moon-roof to reveal a shooting star. He turns off the main road to a windy road that leads to a lookout point as the two watch the sunrise over the city together. Contented, he heads home. We cut to the mother waking up back home; she looks to the doorway to see the father happily walking in with a breakfast tray complete with coffee, parfait, and a baby monitor revealing the baby fast asleep. The mother looks upon her husband with a deep appreciation.

What inspired the concept for the commercial?

I was on vacation with my sister and my 18-month-old niece and I noticed how much my sister’s life revolved around the baby. The only time that she could truly relax and rest was if the baby was napping, and even then, it was short lived. My brother in law is a great dad and husband, but I think there’s always room to grow as a provider and a lover. So, my sister and I began brainstorming the commercial concept together while on that vacation and she essentially ideated the original concept. She said, “You want to know what a perfect morning would look like?” She went on to describe a hypothetical that ultimately laid the foundation for the commercial. The idea went through several rounds of refinement before becoming what it is today.

Are you a father? Have you been in the Dad’s shoes?

I am not a father, nor have I actually been in the father’s shoes. I am, in fact, getting married at the end of the month though, and believe me, I’m sure when the day comes, my fiancé will remind me of this spot. In a way, it’s a declaration of who I choose to be when I am a father as well as a call to action to all fathers out there.

How did you feel when you learned your concept had won approval and was going to be made in to a commercial?

Honestly, I felt nervous. Not only did my idea get approved, but it also got selected as one of the few films to be “mentored.” I found out that the mentor who had chosen me was Jon Landau, the producer of Avatar andTitanic. I guess if you’re going to create a commercial for the first time, it’s nice to have someone like Jon Landau guiding you through the process. On top of meeting with Jon, Linus Karlsson was in the room. Linus is the creative director for Chevrolet and one of the advertising industry’s most respected and honored creative executives. So, to say that I was conceptualizing with heavy hitters is a gross understatement. I met with Jon and Linus and we hashed out my concept at Jon’s production studio in Marina del Rey. I fought for the ideas that I was adamant about and changed the ideas if I thought they were better, and at the end of the day, it was an amazing experience. That one meeting expanded me exponentially as a human, not just a filmmaker.

After the meeting, I told myself: “You better knock this out of the park, because clearly this concept is strong.”

Were their challenges as you navigated the creative process, worked with the agency? Lessons learned?

The agency, MoFilm, gave me a lot of autonomy as storyteller. They were very hands off creatively, which allowed for an enjoyable process. My main struggle was that I only had $4,100 to make the entire spot, start to finish. So my creativity was not just in terms of how to craft the story but also how to actually make it. Lots of people took a chance on me because they knew that this was my first commercial out of film school and I was looking to make a name for myself. What I have realized, is that if you are a good person throughout life, it makes asking for favors a lot easier. If people already like you, then they’re more likely to help out, which sounds obvious, but it was very noticeable throughout the whole process. It’s not just about being a beautiful person when you need a favor; it’s about being a beautiful human when you don’t need anything in return.

Also, because of the tight budget, I had to film the entire thing in one day which created difficulties of its own, but when I was able to sit in the edit room and look back, I could smile with satisfaction at the tenacity of everybody involved.

Behind the scenes directing non actors:

Since I wasn’t allowed to cast any SAG actors, I had to switch things up. I was looking for a diverse couple, and a baby that looked like it could realistically be theirs. As time went on I started getting more stressed that the couple with the baby wouldn’t seem truthful, and I was sure it was going to ruin the whole spot. Finally, I was talking with my DP, and we thought… what about Hank and Sueann? They’re friends of ours who are married and have a two-year-old daughter of their own. Even though they had never acted in anything before I called them and assured them that I would make them look good. I promised them that at the very least, they would have a fun family video to look back on in 15 years. We shot it, and they did an absolutely wonderful job. So, if you’re wondering why the whole family has such great chemistry, it’s because they’re an actual family together.

Tell us a bit about your background and creative influences.

I started creating documentaries when I was 16 with a rented camera from my high school. My first documentary was on my dad, a firefighter, and his crew. I stayed with them for 3 days and created a story called Behind the Flames, and after winning a handful of awards at local festivals, I decided to make a lifestyle out of it. Since then, I’ve created documentaries in more than 15 countries on various social issues. In 2009, I was accepted to Art Center and my filmmaking experience went into fast forward. I graduated in 2012 with an MFA in Film Production and continued my documentary path toward my first feature-length doc, which is currently in production. The spirit of Werner Herzog and the boldness of Errol Morris have always inspired me. I’ll watch anything they do. For the Chevy Mother’s Day commercial though, I was moved by the recent Apple spots, and the fluid nature of the camera without feeling too sentimental.

What stood out as most significant about your time at Art Center?

Art Center was incredible in the sense that it was very experiential. What I mean by that is, we didn’t sit in a classroom all day talking about films and writing papers on films… but rather, we were given film assignments each week with a prompt that sent us off creating. That mentality of creating a short film on a tight timeline with no budget was incredibly helpful as I set out to create this commercial in a low budget, short time frame, sort of environment.

Did you have a career plan to pursue commercials, or was this a fluke?

Commercials have always fascinated me. I guess I fell in love with the idea of attempting to tell a captivating story in 30 seconds, or a minute if you’re lucky. Can I create an honest arc in 30 seconds? Commercials to me always felt like a storytellers challenge. I hit a point at the beginning of 2014 where I felt like I wanted to create content that was less “documentary” and a little more “cinematic” and commercials seemed to be a perfect outlet. So, I saw the Chevy brief through MoFilm and decided it was time to dive into that experience. So, this commercial was in fact my very first commercial that I ever directed/produced.

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