After last years successful campaign for the Bureau of Land Management, we were brought back to do another round of Spark Safety ad spots. These ads take a look at common causes of wildfire ignition on BLM lands that we put through the lens of western movie tropes with a modern twist. This first ad plays with the current trend of gender reveals involving exploding targets. These social media videos have resulted in several destructive fires in recent years. We played with the idea of a pioneer family partaking in the trend. Originally I wanted the explosion to be a rainbow, but, let’s just say some higher ups got a little nervous about that, so, we landed on unspecific gender color of green.
On a recent river trip I spotted the Historic Jarvie Ranch near Dutch John, UT on the banks of the Green River. The Ranch is BLM property so we were able to use it and it was a fantastic location. For the first time, I had to procure a pyrotechnician. Let’s just say you know you’ve got the right man for the job when he’s driving a windowless van and missing a few fingers. Don’t worry we had a full BLM fire crew on set.
The second spot we did focused on unattended campfires, another frequent source of ignition. For this one the story focus on some train robbing bandits, plotting their caper, in their excitement they start to leave their camp without properly extinguishing their fire. But, don’t worry, our fire fighting cowgirl shows up and sets them straight.
The Bureau of Land Management has been ecstatic about these ads and have garnered millions of views in Maverik’s 400 stores, 8000 gas pump screens, and on social media. I enjoyed making a theatrical and scripted advertisement with high production values in a beautiful set. I helped conceive and write these spots, I produced them including casting and logistics, I served as Director of Photography and primary editor.