CarMax x NBA — Commercial

“Call Your Shot” is a set of national commercials I produced alongside Valiant Pictures for CarMax. Our team faced the challenge of shooting four exterior locations in one day with a pro-athlete who had a limited number of hours on set, coupled with the logistical wildcard that is the ever-changing weather of Chicago in mid-fall. A one-week prep time meant that my Production Coordinator, Katie Kranz, and I had to work fast to make things happen. Katie and I worked with Levinson Locations, a long-time creative partner, to identify a neighborhood that would serve as the backdrop for the majority of our scenes. We also worked with the city to permit the block for working trucks, crew parking and a motorhome for talent. 

There were two cameras in play during the shoot: one lived on a technocrane which was placed in a neighbor’s driveway across from the “hero home,” and the other jumped between an easy-rig and sticks. Director Danny Corey had a very specific vision for the look of these pieces and wanted to shoot on a rare set of glass. After scouring the country for an available set, our friends at Contrast Visuals in Nashville were able to locate and overnight them to Chicago just in time for the shoot. Matching part of a scene that had been shot in LA was also a challenge, and our suburban home location wasn’t going to cut it. Our G&E team came to the rescue and recreated a dark room with a single light source tall enough to house a basketball hoop using draped Duvetyne and floppies. Thanks to their ingenuity and attention to detail, the sets appear seamless in the final edit. Despite having multiple spots to capture on an incredibly tight schedule, our talented Assistant Director and dedicated crew worked extra hard to ensure we “got it all in the can” and made our day.