Chevrolet: Bolt EUV — Commercial

How do you turn a small lackluster garage into a fresh and contemporary convenience store? This was the question that came to mind as Josh Carrasquillo, Executive Producer from Taproot Pictures, and I started chatting about our latest job for Chevrolet and Weber-Shandwick. 

This spot, eventually titled The Great Garage Evolution, was designed to highlight Chevy Bolt EUV drivers. Because of the Bolt's fuel-free setup, the need for going to a gas station is gone, but the desire for a hot dog, pizza slice, or snack that you may grab from a gas station convenience store is still there. Thus, the crazy idea to flip a real Chevy Bolt EUV owner’s garage into their local convenience store. After scouring the country for the perfect candidate, an owner was found in Denver, CO. Our core team of department heads flew to Denver to scout the location, and devise a plan to flip, film, and restore the garage all in 2.5 days! One of the essential members of this team was Nick Schwartz, my Chicago-based Production Designer. Nick and I had collaborated on a  set build for a Second City job about eight months prior, and it was good to be reunited with him on this one. In addition to Nick, I brought on Chris Vanderwall as Director, Matt Treager as DP, and of course my Production Coordinator Katie Kranz from Chicago to round out our stacked local crew. After lots of discussion with our local Construction Coordinator and Set Decorator, as well as a synergetic effort with our camera and G&E team, Nick had a solid plan in place and a 3D render to show us. 

Though we were filming at someone’s home, we were fortunate to be right across the street from a daycare center that allowed us to use their entire parking lot for base camp and crew parking. The crown jewel of this basecamp setup was MoHo driver Dave Lehl and his unbelievable production motorhome. The MoHo, formally known as Base Camp Denver, had a living room space dedicated to talent (complete with a working fireplace), a suite dedicated to the client village, and an open-air deck for HMU and production. Dave is also an incredible photographer who I’d highly recommend. 

In creating a faux “HGTV style” garage flip, a professional and personable host was needed.  We were so excited to hear that Survivor’s Season 36 winner Wendell Holland would be our host. I’ve worked with lots of talent over the years, and he is one of the most genuine, down-to-earth guys I have met in this business.

We had our host, Chevy Bolt EUV owner, incredible crew, and Nick’s crazy renovation plan…it was show time! Staggered call times for our camera, construction, and art team were essential to making our plan work. To be able to show the garage “as is” before the flip, we had to bring in our talent, camera, G&E, and production team to showcase the space before the faux-reno. As this first team was wrapping up the day we handed the baton to the Art and Construction teams who worked into the night transforming the space. When our morning crew arrived the next day, it was a fully-realized convenience store wonderland complete with a slushy machine and hot dog roller. What a wild ride it was, but seeing the look on our “hero’s” face when we revealed a fully “evolved garage” made all the stress, time, sweat, and collective team effort worth it.