When setting out to launch a production company at the end of 2013, my business partner Brendan Kiernan and I were determined to be alternative. The last thing the world needed was another me-too production company.
We opened the doors of HeLo in a two-story house in Venice, a short cruiser bike ride from the beach. The place had lots of character and it instantly became the antithesis of a buttoned up, corporate office. Right away, agency friends had a different kind of experience there, at intimate dinner parties where we cooked for them ourselves. More important than the setting, though, we offered a unique concept. We gave a lot of thought to how we could hone in on a growth area in the business—to do work that would capture the interest of our somewhat jaded ad clients. Our answer was to offer branded experiences, rather than relying solely on the :30.
While we may have started out with the idea that the :30 spot is dead and opportunity in experiential is massive, the project that put us immediately on the map was—ironically—a Super Bowl spot. The assignment required our creating a series of live experiences that wound up being filmed and turned into a :30 comedic commercial with numerous celebrity cameos. The spot went on to win a Gold Lion, and our initial premise had come full circle. What we took away from this early success is that the :30 is not dead but in need of rejuvenation, and greatly enhanced authenticity. Capturing a live event in various locations was one great way to shake up the formula and create a memorable view experience, even within a traditional commercial.
We’ve learned that although experiential projects engage audiences in a powerful new way, they also require dramatically different production models including much longer lead times and a seemingly endless stream of moving parts. They’re amorphous compared to the somewhat regimented standards of the traditional commercial shoot. The concept of bringing HeLo’s production designers in to collaborate with agency creatives early on—so that the project hasn’t been thoroughly thought through until the designers have input—has worked very well.
So while we set out to break the mold when we launched, we’ve learned over the last year is that it’s not about breaking the mold—it’s about not having a mold in the first place. Exciting projects are exciting projects—:30 spot, major experiential event—it doesn’t matter. We’ve learned a healthy mix of spots and experiential is where we want to be, along with talent who can transcend the standard model in order to do something extraordinary.
Justin Moore-Lewy is executive producer/partner at HeLo.
