Davis Elen and Kontent Films for Eyewitness News

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - Each week, The Examiner showcases an advertising campaign by a local company.

Client: CBS 5 TV, San Francisco

Job: “Interviewer” branding campaign for Eyewitness News on CBS 5 TV in San Francisco

Agency: Davis Elen Advertising, San Francisco with Kontent Films, San Francisco

Creative team: Mark Decena, director/executive producer; Rob Ingalls, exececutive creative director; Dee Joyce, creative services director; Bruce Lindgren, marketing consultant; Molly Robinson, account director; Teri Heyman, producer; Andy Lilien, director of photography; Sultan Mirza, producer/editor; Pat Cilia, design director

The plan: First, we decided what we didn’t want. We didn’t want to see helicopters. We didn’t want to see papers being shuffled on a newsroom desk. And we didn’t want to see news personalities running down corridors, working in their gardens, or walking on the beach. We did, though, want to give viewers a window into the real character and depth of the CBS 5 news team.

The theme: The real personalities of CBS 5 anchors and reporters.

The concept: We decided to focus on the CBS 5 news personalities individually in an attempt to uncover what it was about each of them that made them good journalists. In order to avoid the sanctimony and self-importance that oozes through in most such spots, though, we brought in an off-camera interviewer to serve as a truth-seeker, to disarm our CBS 5 talent and engage them in simple, straightforward dialogue. The whole goal was to keep our subjects honest, to show them as they really are in behind-the-scenes, casual conversations.

Mark Decena

Position: Director/exececutive producer

Education/background: Produced several award winning feature and short films including “Unflinching Triumph,” “Dopamine,” “One of Those Days” “Dog” and “A Fly by Shooting.” He has also written scripts for television.

What drove your development of the concept? Research indicates that few Bay Area viewers are able to identify Bay Area broadcast journalists with the stations for which they work. Viewers believe that what truly differentiates one local news resource from another lies in the character and capabilities of its journalists.

Working on next: Narration on the new PBS series, E2 Design and Energy. Directing TV.com campaign; Two feature scripts currently in development

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