Dame and his Expert Friends

Guest bloggers Zach Feiner and Will Cuddy are a west-coast based directing duo recognized for developing sincere stories about remarkable people. Formally, they are known as Expert Friends, but we prefer to think of them as team players with high standards. These guys are proof that you can move fast, be talented and have fun…just like the subject in their latest spot.

We recently had the opportunity to direct, produce and edit an ad for Biofreeze, and this was going to be our first opportunity as directors to work with a major athlete. Of course, going into this project we were a little nervous. To make things interesting, we only had two hours with Portland Trail Blazer guard Damian Lillard. Fortunately, he’s a pro and made life easy for us.

With DP Scott Uyeda behind the camera, the footage was amazing. He and his team did more in two hours than most could do with a full day. The spot was originally conceived to include the original broadcast audio of a famous buzzer beating shot made by Damian. Yet, for legal reasons, that sound was off limits to us. We knew the edit was going to require some major sound design to stand out, so what to do?

Enter Digital One and Tristan Schmunk. 

We had worked with Digital One on other occasions, but this was our first opportunity to experience what Tristan could do. After sharing our direction, Tristan set off to create the sound environment from scratch, making sure that every dribble was purposeful. He transformed an iPhone recorded recreation of the game commentary into a stadium-esque broadcast. He enhanced Damian’s voice to give it commanding confidence and brought life to every move. And Tristan ensured that the rhythm of the sound design locked to Zach Striar’s music composition. 

As young directors, it’s exciting to team up with folks like Digital One… professionals who go out of their way to bring their best to a project. We needed a specialist to elevate the spot to the next level and that’s exactly what Tristan did.

Check out the spot and see for yourself.

-Zach and Will