Kelley Blue Book — Commercial

I’ve worked alongside my friend, Director Chris Fenner, on multiple projects for Kelley Blue Book over the years. A subsidiary of Cox Automotive, Kelley Blue Book is a large entity so commercial production entails lots of department coordination between Cox Automotive, Kelley Blue Book, and management of our production crew and the Nascar talent reps.

Each year in planning, new ideas are thrown around. But this time the concept was simple: let the driver drive. This took things to a whole new level as we prepped for a shoot focused on stunt driving. We scoured the Charlotte, NC area for an empty warehouse large enough for our stunts. After scouting and securing the location, I spent weeks working on the logistics of shooting in an empty warehouse with no bathrooms, electricity or heat in the December cold. To ensure the comfort of our crew, I brought in mobile restrooms, a honeywagon for talent, a mobile catering kitchen, heaters, and a client tent village. I also hired a guy who brought in large haze machines with long piping that he called “the tubes of death” which lined the sides of the warehouse allowing us to completely fill the entire space with haze for effect. 

With one day for pre-light and one day for shooting, our crew did an amazing job cramming in all the needed shots. Starting with the standups, we transitioned to short social media pieces and ended the day with the car-to-car stunts. To help us achieve the shots we wanted, I brought in a Motocrane from the guys at VidMuze. And because of the stunt driving involved, we had local fire department and medics on set. Even though the stunt shots had all been perfectly planned out and storyboarded so our Director could choreograph Nascar driver Chase Elliott through the scenes we needed to film, Chase decided to let loose and started tearing it up! We tossed our playbook out the window, took his lead, and just started to capture whatever he threw at us. It was one of those moments where even our excellent plans couldn’t have compared to the spontaneous energy and incredible content Chase gave us. From our front-row seat at one end of the warehouse, the entire crew and client team stood in awe of the talent we’d just witnessed. 

It was an incredible experience and a shoot for the books.