Stubstad Films

This last weekend I directed a comedy music video for a group called Half Day Today. This project is similar to Lonely Island sketches like "I'm on a Boat!" but this video stars the Cat in the Hat as a baller-gangster-rapper. The video takes place in a hybrid world that mixes the Seuss world with the Hip-Hop world. There were cameos appearances by all the classic Seuss characters now in hip-hop form (the Grinch, Sam I am, Lorax, Yertle the Turtle, etc.).

This project was a endless well of creative possibilities. As a director I had so much to draw upon from these worlds, it was so much fun!

On the production side of things the producers were really supportive of my ideas and where I wanted to take the project. The amazing writers were flexible with their original concept being reshaped. The production team of props, costumes and makeup, camera, etc. really made anything possible for us. Everyone involved in the project was passionate and hard working, it took a massive amount of effort from everyone to create this project and the quality of their work is already apparent.

I was brought onto this project by Evan Bregman in September and we finally just shot it. All the hard work and meetings really payed off. We were able to accomplish so much in just the 2 days! We did work 30 hours in those 2 days, but we still accomplished a ton in that time!

This project had a large crew, the full deal, departments and all. At times it was like conducting a 3 ring circus, but everyone was talented and organized, so we were able to do what we needed. I'm so proud of everyone involved, their abilities in their field really showed over the weekend. The final location was the hardest with the most shots to get, this was a good test of our character as a team. At one time I had to direct 3 camera units at once so that we could capture everything in the time we had at that location. And we pulled it off with smiles on our faces, stressed out and tired smiles but still :) Yay for nice, hard-working, creative people!!!

We were very lucky with the talent we had on this project. We cast Jay Habbit as the lead, the Catt (double T!!!) in the Hat. We also brought on his hype man Randy Williams who created a dope dance for the video. We had Gabi Conti playing the hilarious CIndy-Lou Who. Jessica Poter as the thuggish Gertrude McChola. Todd, Dan and Evan played the epic Beatie Boys-esk trio. There were tons of extras on this project who made the video legit, without them this would be a hollow looking project. And a special thanks to Jenna, who was the bravest of them all :) We also had the talented cinematographer Daryl Gilmore as our DP, he made every shot stand out and count. It was a pleasure working with him. Daryl's camera crew Chad and CJ were top of the line!

I feel very lucky to be working with the Half Day Today crew. When I was brought on board they already had a strong and talented team together. These guys put in the midnight oil to make this project what it is. I really look forward to all future projects with these guys.

Time for some Big Ups! - To Luke for making this shoot so professional and organized. Also to Jessica Poter and Dan B. for writing such a great script, it was any directors dream to work on such a lush project. Trevor is the bomb digity with his studio skills and beat mastery. Al and Evan were the support system that made this thing stay together and keep us all motivated as a team. Chitty and Maura made some insane props and pulled it all off for no budget. Daisy and her crew made this video pop with the freshest costumes, you guys were so professional. The creativity in every characters costume makes this project stand above the rest and makes us all look great, thank you! (And on the last night we worked till 12:30AM and Daisy had to work at 4AM, she was a soldier!) Vanessa brought her touch to the faces of all these iconic characters, making them all look amazing! The rest of the incredible people on the team, you know who you are, thank you so much for your long hours and dedication to making this project count!

NOW the video turns over the wizards in the post production world. I will be going along for this post ride and we shall return with our final film in early March for you all to see! :)

If you couldn't tell, I am super excited about this project! Everyone has been saying they see big things for it, so wish us luck :)

Cheers!

Matt.