Twin Cities Producer, Director of Photography again at center of newsworthy productions
FROM TV SPOT BANNED AT 2010 SUPER BOWL TO 2009 CANNES SHORT FILM ENTRY, TOKEN MEDIA’S DAN HUNDLEY AND HIS COLLEAGUES MAKING HEADLINES WITH DISTINCTIVE FILM AND TV WORK; A BANKER’S GHOST, A SOPRANO’S SPOOF, A JADED CRITIC — AND THAT OLD FART JOKE FOR CAREERBUILDER.COM THAT CBS WON’T AIR THIS SUNDAY!

TWIN CITIES — February 2, 2010 — Is getting your ad banned this year from the Super Bowl by CBS Television just as good as getting it aired on Sunday — like saying an Academy Award Nomination is the award, even if you don’t win the Oscar?! That seems to be the way it’s rolling for a talented team of Minneapolis-St. Paul film makers, including Dan Hundley, Token Media’s Producer and Director of Photography (DP). Hundley —along with a core group of five other filmmakers (See Credit’s List below) — now joins the HOT, short list of ads the big network won’t air for the big game with its ah, cheeky, 25-second spot for CareerBuilder.com called “Worst Seat� (http://www.careerbuilder.com/tv/default.aspx).

Hundley’s other guerrilla film-making work landed a short film at Cannes last year with the same “Worst Seatâ€? team that won “The 48 Hour Film Project for Minneapolis” two years in row, qualifying them for this year’s invitation-only “The 48 Hour Film Project Panasonic HD Filmmaker Showdownâ€? this Super Bowl weekend. They are one of only five teams selected in the U.S. to compete (www.48hourfilm.com ). While everybody else is watching football teams in Miami and ranking TV advertisements that did get aired, this team will be making a movie over two days, starting on Super Sunday.

In the commercial, a couple of guys in the office — not unlike The Office TV show — resort to a tried-and-true-but-tasteless guys-only fart practice in which an unfortunate female co-worker — clearly wedged in between them in the Worst Seat — is forced to experience their wind-breaking shenanigans. Sitting smack between these two yahoos, it’s apparent she’s endured their juvenile jive before. To dump salt in the wound, the boss walks by at the end of the spot to give “the boys� props for their stinkin’ prank.

“I guess ‘Worst Seat’ is in the growing good bad company with the other spots the network nixed this year, like that spot for the gay dating service (Mancrunch), a kgb ad, an anti-abortion spot, and the new Go Daddy spot,� says Hundley, who served as DP and producer on the careerbuilder.com piece. “While we won’t be seeing our team’s work during the televised Colts-Saints game this Sunday, we do get this odd distinction of being banned, which is generating quite a bit of publicity already and giving us some creative cache along the way — for both versions of the ad.�

It’s true. There are two renditions of the office guys going combustible by smelling up the place:

· Original ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePS6DDOJlnc&feature=related

· Remake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvRQ_9J_GDg

And Here’s the Rest of the Back Story

Brian Forrest, the other producer on Seat and a fellow Twin Cities filmmaker, entered the group in a CareerBuilder.com contest last year to create and produce a commercial concept for the employment website’s Super Bowl spot. With only one name available for the entry, Forrest was the designated entrant for the team. The $100,000 prize came with a caveat — the company had the right to reshoot the commercial, which it did in Hollywood, before later submitting it to CBS. The creative team will equally share the award money, and hopefully also win more recognition for this — and other work.

Dude’s on a Role

For Hundley, “Worst Seat� is just the latest recognition he’s received for his collaborative film work. He has successfully participated in three award-winning 48-Hour Film Festivals, including one (“Birthmarked for Death�) that was screened at Cannes last year (See Highlights below). All three are playing madly on You-Tube and at Token Media’s website www.token.com. Hundley was Executive Producer and Director of Photography for all three short works.

And he and his team were invited back this year — one of only five film teams around the country — to compete this weekend.

Each of the 5 teams will be loaned a PanasonicAG-HPX300 camera and P2 Cards to use for the weekend of Feb. 5-7. The winning film will be announced and screened at Filmapalooza in April in Las Vegas, and the winning team will be awarded a Panasonic HD camera of its very own.

WORST SEAT CREDITS

Matthew Olson, Director, Writer

Daniel Hundley, Producer, Director of Photography

Brian Forrest, Producer

Eric Nigg, Writer, Actor

Patrick Pierson, Editor

Erica Backberg, Production Coordinator

Hundley’s Short Film Highlights

Chuck Murray Knows (2008): One of the winners in the five city contest sponsored by Panasonic called “The 48 Hour Film Project Panasonic HD Filmmaker Showdown,� this quirky and hilarious short six-minute features the story of a banker ghost who appears for an interview, allegedly to talk about life after death but is really more interested in promoting his book about banking. Hundley shot the piece as the Director of Photography and served as Executive Producer.

Birthmarked for Death (2008): A dark, Sopranos-like comedy runs seven minutes long and looks at a young guy’s “first whack job.� The engaging piece won locally during the 2008 Minneapolis 48 Hour Film Project for Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Writing and Best Use of Character. And it was the one and only Cannes Film Festival shorts from the 48 Hour films produced in the U.S. Hundley shot the piece as the Director of Photography and Executive Producer.

The Grave Review (2009): Another 48 Hour Film Fest effort won in Minneapolis, this short flick looks at a hardened critic, whose focus is critiquing haunted places. While nothing seems to addle this seasoned paranormal observer, he finally experiences a frightening incident too terrifying to reveal here. Hundley shot the piece as the Director of Photography and Executive Producer.

For more information — or to interview Dan Hundley about his team’s work on the Super Bowl spot and/or Token Media — please contact Martin Keller at 612-729-8585, mkeller@mediasavantcom.com).