Director Ben Mor of Little Minx and Black Dog (sister shops to RSA Films) has again teamed with the Black Eyed Peas to make beautiful music videos together–this time, though, with an extra spotmaking dimension. Having such notable past collaborations as the band’s chartbuster “I Gotta Feeling” for Interscope, Mor and the Peas this time around turned out the promo clip “Meet Me Halfway,” the third single off The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) which debuted earlier this month on iTunes. This latest collaboration also includes an integrated advertising tie-in for DirecTV via Deutsch L.A., which works in tandem with the music video.
The integrated project is part of DirecTV’s successful advertising campaign, “The 4th Wall.” Each spot in the Deutsch-conceived campaign features an existing entertainment property, like a famous movie, TV show or music video, where a famous character from that property breaks the 4th wall (the boundary between the fictional setting and the audience) and addresses the camera to pitch a DirecTV marketing message.
The Mor-helmed “Meet Me Halfway” video is an intergalactic, epic love story that depicts the Black Eyed Peas’ APL, Fergie, Will.i.am and Taboo in fantastical settings past and future. In the video, Fergie’s character is waiting in an idyllic ancient world to reunite with her lover. In DirecTV’s “Meet Me Halfway” spot, Fergie breaks the 4th wall and tells us her wait is over because she’s hooking up her flat screen to DirecTV, enabling her to see whatever she wants in HD.
Tom Dunlap, RSA’s exec producer for business development, related, “Interscope was working with Platinum Rye and DirecTV to find the right opportunity for brand integration using an Interscope artist in ‘The 4th Wall’ campaign. One of Interscope’s most popular bands, the Black Eyed Peas, were about to release their newest single and Ben Mor was tapped to direct the music video.”
RSA/Black Dog had already produced the music video for Beyonce’s “Upgrade U,” along with a tie-in spot for DirecTV’s “4th Wall” campaign, noted Dunlap, which helped pave the way for the Black Eyed Peas project. “We were fortunate to be brought in at a very early stage, prior to the actual production [of the video],” Dunlap said. “It enabled [Little Minx/Black Dog] and director Ben Mor to collaborate with the Black Eyed Peas, Interscope, Deutsch and DirecTV, to find creative ways to insert DirecTV’s marketing message in a way that did not detract from the music video execution, but, in fact, added to it.” This working arrangement also made for a budget-efficient production.
Although Mor had his work cut out for him over the three-day shoot, directing the video’s intricate FX-driven story along with additional scenes for the commercial, his shorthand with the band served him well. “The Peas are very hands on,” Mor explained, “especially Will. Will might toss out an abstract adjective. Having worked with him before and knowing him, I’m able to do a little guess work. With each project we do, I have more freedom and trust from the Black Eyed Peas.
“We had to figure out how Will and Fergie would break the 4th wall,” Mor continued. “There was much discussion between us all beforehand, the client, agency, the Peas and myself. The agency made sure its message was conveyed. They gave Fergie and Will a template, then gave them the freedom to use their own voices. Will.i.am even ended up doing some improv.”
Even though Mor and the Peas have done spots (Pepsi’s “Jump on the Floor”) and promos together before, collaborating on “Meet Me Halfway” and DirecTV marked a first. “It was my first time shooting with an elephant and I’m not going to say it was my last!” Mor said. “Thai, our elephant, was great and easy to work with. Will sat on her 19 feet in the air and actually rode her around. It was all in-camera.”
“Walking on a set on scale of what we were used to when I first worked at Propaganda Films in the heyday of music videos was so refreshing,” said Rhea Scott, president of Little Minx. “Music videos really mattered then and had an impact.” She characterized Little Minx and Black Dog “breaking down the boundaries within our own production companies and combining forces to make both the ad and video” as representing “a new way of working, a new beginning. And I love that.”
How Family Films Are Taking Over Moviegoing, One Blockbuster At A Time
As "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" lands in theaters, coloring stations, collectible popcorn containers and mascot Marios are all in place to entice arguably the most prized moviegoers to Hollywood today: kids. By Sunday, Universal Pictures expects the five-day opening of the "Super Mario" sequel to reach $186 million domestically, and around $350 million worldwide. That would make it easily the biggest hit of the year, surpassing a pair of successes that also launched with young moviegoers in mind: Pixar's "Hoppers" ($297 million worldwide) and Amazon MGM's "Project Hail Mary" ($300.8 million). It's not the start of a new trend but the culmination of one. In 2024, PG-rated movies outgrossed any other rating for the first time in decades, with $3.18 billion in domestic ticket sales according to Comscore. Five of the top six movies worldwide were PG movies: "Inside Out 2," "Moana 2," "Despicable Me 4," "Wicked" and "Mufasa: The Lion King." Last year was no different. PG-rated films amassed $2.96 billion, again besting the longtime leader, PG-13. The top draws globally were "Ne Zha 2," "Zootopia 2," "Lilo & Stitch," "A Minecraft Movie" and the PG-13-rated but not exactly kid-adverse "Avatar: Fire and Ash." Good news has been hard to come by in Hollywood. Contraction, most recently with Paramount Skydance's planned purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, has added to the anxieties of an already jittery industry. While ticket sales are up so far in 2026, they remain more than 20% below pre-pandemic levels. In February, AMC, the nation's largest exhibitor, said it would continue to shutter underperforming theaters. But despite a lot of talk about the imperiled future of moviegoing, future moviegoers — kids — are turning out in droves. "There's a... Read More