The recent campaign for Logitech reunites agency legend Greg Bell (formerly of Venables Bell & Partners, which he cofounded) and TEAK Founder Greg Martinez. In a partnership with roots in Bell and Martinez' days collaborating at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Bell directed the five spots through TEAK, which handled creative, production, editorial, and VFX, among other components.
The clever viral campaign teased the launch of Logitech's Revue - a device that brings GoogleTV into people's homes. It features a one-eyed flatscreen television waddling about a suburban home, causing mischief when his "family" continuously ignores him in favor of other electronic gadgets.
It's one of the first directing projects for Bell, who took a year off from the advertising business to spend time with his family, before deciding to pursue directing full time. Martinez was one of Bell's first contacts for advice building a director's reel, and while collaborating on a short film, asked him if he'd be interested in a content creation project for Logitech.
Both Bell and Martinez left Goodby for entrepreneurial efforts. Bell cofounded advertising agency Venables Bell and Partners in 2001, growing it into a $225 million dollar shop before selling his stake and taking time off in 2009.
Martinez founded TEAK in 2004, growing it from a post production company to a wholly unique San Francisco offering - a soup to nuts content creation shop, rooted in social media and syndication expertise.
The Logitech project follows several high-profile recent releases for TEAK, including the creation of a YouTube channel and other multimedia components for the launch of Google's Nexus One smartphone; Move, a three-minute film introducing Sony's PlayStation Move motion-sensing controller; and a brand video and pair of promos for backpack giant JanSport.
Bell shot the campaign with an eye for VFX components. TEAK's team created front and back TV suits for an actor to wear around his legs in shooting, and then digitally removed the actor's upper body in post. The end product is a TV that appears as a box with a pair of stump legs and a screen that continually shifts between a giant grin and an enormous emotive eye, both of which TEAK added in CG post.
"Rather than buy interest with a fat media budget, Logitech sought to create interest with an engaging story," stated Bell. " I wanted a simple creature; something real, awkward and almost sympathetic that viewers could connect with. The guys at TEAK went above and beyond to make it perfect."
"The ability to handle a project from napkin scratch to final cut, this job - with its various components, interesting storyline, and diverse demands - fit perfectly into our model," noted Martinez. "Plus Bell and I developed a great synergy at Goodby and have maintained the relationship both personally and professionally over the years, so I was eager to work with him again and help him launch into directing. Working with talent of his caliber speaks volumes about the progress we've made at TEAK in our quest from humble post house to full-service digital studio."