Professional Motion Picture Production and Distribution NEWS

In a previous piece of mine, "Zac Auron: Feed Your Cast and Crew", I presented the side of one determined to underscore the idiocy of idioms advocating hunger's creative potential. Yet because I have since found the debate over hunger's capacity to enhance human artistic prowess to reach opposite ends of a surprisingly extreme spectrum, I feel compelled to equally present the counterargument to Auron's preoccupation with dismissing hunger from the film industry. I wish my writing to help cultivate as much artistic production as possible, and have found hunger to also lead to successes comparably as great as what catastrophes it has indeed fueled.



I gained the above realization after my talks with Hank Perlman, co-founder of Hungry Man, an international production company with bases in L.A., New York, Rio, and London. In 2004, Hungry Man even won the Cannes Film Festival's Palme D'or as the top commercial production company in the world. Given the successes of his company, Perlman indeed stands as a testament to hunger's ability to infuse fresh comedy into televisions around the world. So I present to you the story and voice of this hungry man and his work, to provide you with a full look at hunger's place in film production and remind that it (even if only the idea of hunger) can be as influential in production as food.



Although modest in his estimations of Hungry Man's massive work, Perlman's belief in intuition and love of the unexpected still emerge to the forefront of his reflections to reveal that offering your hunger to your team along with these parts of you can mean big things.



Brennan: What were the beginnings of Hungry Man?

Perlman: Hungry Man began around 1997 with myself, Bryan Buckley, Frank Todaro and a line producer we were all working with at the time at another production company called Radical Media. Gradually, we talked more and more about starting our own company and what we would need to do so. We realized that if we got the right job- and could manage to produce it entirely by ourselves- that one job could help start the company. We could put some money in the bank to rent a space and get things going. So we did that. And we were able to come in under budget with that first job and secure some funds for the coming months. So that led to another job.



Brennan: What factors were instrumental in allowing to you to find that first right
job?



Perlman: Certain director's previous careers and the reputations they garnered from them definitely helped. Early on, Bryan Buckley worked on some Super Bowl commercials and did a commercial for Monster.com. Right before we started Hungry Man, we also had all worked on the 'This Is SportsCenter' advertising campaign. As that continued to be very successful and well received even after we began our own company, we were able to feed off of its momentum.



Brennan: Were there any definitive turning points or successes that enabled Hungry
Man to grow to the international company that it is today?



Perlman: Very early on, around 1999 and 2000, we did a lot of commercials for very big and growing Dot-com companies like Outpost.com, Monster.com, and Amazon.com. I guess we just got very lucky with the timing of our beginning, and the fact that the kind of comedy commercials that we specialized in appealed to a lot of these Dot-com companies that were booming and were hungry for more growth.

Brennan: Could you return to the inside story of 'This Is SportsCenter'? After all, it has been going on for seventeen years now and is one of the most successful advertising campaigns in television. How did you develop the idea for the spot?



Perlman: The campaign started in 1994 while I was a copywriter at Weiden &
Kennedy, an advertising agency in Portland, Oregon. I was working with an art director named Rick McQuiston, and we got the assignment to do a new campaign for SportsCenter. And so we came up with this idea that we would make a series of commercials that would pretend to be the real looks behind the scenes of the show and how everything worked. Then we decided we would have some fun with it and bring athletes and mascots in. We wanted to pretend that Bristol, Connecticut, where ESPN is headquartered, was the epicenter of the sports universe. We ran with that idea a little bit and did a series of spots.



Brennan: In the article, "Creative Focus: Wry On The Fly" by Eleftheria Parpis, you mention that you and your partners intentionally left your roles undefined while developing the spots for 'This Is Sports Center'. What were the creative advantages to leaving your roles so undefined?

Perlman: I guess what I meant by that is we did not place any limits on the extent of our collaboration with one another. If a good idea of how to shoot it came from the writer, it didn't matter. We were a team. In keeping with the whole sports theme of the project, it just made sense to work like that.

Brennan: What are the most challenging aspects to creating a great commercial?
Perlman: Making it stand out and be different. People have seen so many
commercials over the years, so it's challenging to find something that people haven't seen before and will remember.
Brennan: How has Hungry Man been so successful in scoring and producing such memorable campaigns?

Perlman: We love comedy, and we love commercial production. Making funny
commercials is what makes us happy. And we let that show through our work. We've become known for that and so agencies with ideas for funny commercials come to us. Then, Hungry Man makes them.

Brennan: What are the trademarks of a well-produced advertising campaign?

Perlman: There has to be a really clear idea to the commercials, and that idea has to be communicated in a really simple, yet engaging and memorable way. A lot of times that means 'funny' but mainly the elements involved need to be unexpected. We like to cast actors that you normally don't see in commercials and make things feel out of the ordinary. Earlier this year, Bryan did a commercial with Alec Baldwin about the Yankees and the Red Sox. It's a clich�, but we try to do things that 'break-through' when you're watching television, that make you take notice amidst all the clutter.

Brennan: Is there any difference in the mentality with which you approach
commercial production as opposed to actual television shows or movies?

Perlman: In a lot of ways, it's all the same. It's all about a great idea or a great story and great characters. You could have those in a 30-second commercial or a 90-minute movie. Differences appear when you look at the business side to these various productions. With making commercials, you're working for agencies and clients; with television shows, you're working for networks; with movies, you're working for studios. But a great idea is a great idea, and any audience can recognize that. So a great idea has to be the foundation of any production.

Brennan: Do you have any lasting advice for others who are trying to being their own production companies as well?

Perlman: If it's something you really, really want to do- if its something you believe in- don't be discouraged by people who say you can't do it. If you want to do something, try and do it. Don't think about all the reasons why you can't. If you love it, just do it.

Brennan: One last question that has been on mind ever since I first heard of your company: Where did the name Hungry Man come from?

Perlman: We needed a name, so were just sitting around trying to think of one. Then I said, 'Can we take a break? I'm hungry, man.' Right after, Brian said, 'How about Hungry Man?'