Jackson Goldberg - Day 1

Day 1 was very long, and ultimately did not provide a lot of opportunities to be hands-on, but it was nonetheless a fascinating glimpse into the creative process that I'm glad to have received. Essentially the entire day revolved around the creation of a promo for the upcoming second season of "Rectify". I should note that this show has apparently been promoted quite a bit on Sundance itself, but this specific spot was intended to be broadcast outside the home channel with the intent of reaching a wider audience. This is also a show that is highly stylistically unique, with a lead character that is likely not going to appeal to the masses (unfortunately I cannot be very specific here due to an NDA). So here's the quandary: how do you create an ad that, in thirty seconds or less, captures the essence of the show, its characters and their issues, without A) turning off potential viewers and B) resorting to cliches and undermining the distinct nature of the show? That was an issue the editors were really struggling with, and watching them try to find this balance was completely riveting. They would comb through, episode by episode, trying to find moments that would offer the best hints at what the show has to offer, finding just the right moments within the piece to be dramatic, slightly comedic, mysterious, etc. This process literally took hours, and I admired the editors' perseverance through this tedium. And then, amazingly, just when it was time to head home, it was decided that they would start from scratch the next day. It turns out the ad veered too far into "cliche" territory, resorting to the tired "show title, clips, quotes of praise from important publications, more clips, dramatic finish" technique, which works fine when appealing to folks who already part of the niche audience, but far less effective in piquing the interests of casual viewers. Think of it this way: if you were on YouTube, and an add for Show A, a show you had never heard of before, popped up before the video you were watching, wouldn't that add have to be totally different from those of Shows B-Z to keep you from pressing the skip button? So basically the lesson of the day was this: if it doesn't work, don't use it.