Elemental - The Brief - (2016) 1:24 (Canada)

Content marketing seems to be the latest and smartest version of product placement. Rather than just getting your product into a drama series - with a fleeting shot or two - you become the drama; you write it, produce it, and ultimately hope people are interested in watching what you've made. Successful and memorable branded content so far would include Wyndham Rewards' 'Have Points, Will Travel' which will be showing on the in-room entertainment of all of their hotels, starting this year. Another which comes to mind is Nike Women's 'Margot vs Lily', a web series about two women in New York ('New episode every Monday'), which debuted on Feb 1st 2016. And exactly one month after both Wyndham and Nike dropped game-changing content marketing into our laps, we've got 'The Brief' from Elemental Inc, an lively, inventive and amusing look at the advertising industry, from the perspective of two interns.
Watch Season 1 of The Brief here.
We checked in with Matt Sadowski – Copywriter, Co-creator, writer and director of The Brief and Dustin Brown – Partner, Strategy and Client Services at Elemental - to ask them a few questions and understand more about what led them to produce their own branded series.
Adland - Where did the idea to make The Brief come from?

We’ve always tried to think of interesting ways we could promote the agency. All ideas are welcome at the agency, the ones that rise to the top we are always willing to invest in. Matt brought up the initial idea with a baseline script based on his observations as an intern at the agency, I had actually worked on a script for a television pilot with a theme a few years before that, that had never been produced. Matt and I then hammered out the season.
Adland - While agencies often put out all kinds of short videos and promotional films, this is the first instance I know of an agency creating a whole web series. What made you decide on such an ambitious project?
We’ve seen a lot of changes to the industry in the last 5 years. Classic formats in advertising have changed a great deal.

Matt - Cameras are getting better and better and amateurs are able to make professionally looking content. I’ve seen a lot scripted short content out there which looks great, sometimes is well written, but it’s always the performances that make it fall flat. That and AUDIO!
We wanted this to walk and talk like the real deal. I worked with the same cinematographer who shot my feature film (Pretend We’re Kissing) and my previous tv series (The Right Hand) to make it look good, and even though I was writing characters loosely based on real people, I catered them for seasoned actors I had relationships with, that I was hopeful would come on board for a stick of gum and a handshake. The Canadian actor union, Actra, got behind the idea and we were supported with a post-audio shop here in Toronto (WantedSP) who we had done a lot of work with, and wanted to sink their teeth into the series with us. We shot the series over a weekend, and with an intense shooting schedule and matchstick crew, there was no way we would have gotten the moments we wanted with our own staff. Hopefully we can work them into the scenery in upcoming episodes.

Adland - What were the biggest challenging making The Brief and how did you get whole agency behind the idea?
There was no great challenges per se, Elemental is a highly collaborative agency where the team is always looking to do something innovative. We believe in building a culture where everyone’s voice can be heard and every idea is tabled and considered. All we ask is that people bring well thought out ideas to the table. After airing the pilot to the agency everyone at the shop wanted to know how they could get involved even if it meant late nights.

Adland - What has been the reaction since the first four episodes went live earlier this week?
Reactions have been very positive since the launch. Our clients are very excited for us. We have received a number of unsolicited resumes from seasoned industry talent who want to work in a place that would germinate this kind of work. Journalists like yourselves are giving us attention (thank you). And our team is galvanized together by a shared pride.
Adland - Obviously there is a strong self-promotional element to the series, but what were your business objectives? Do you think The Brief acts as a good showreel to win new clients, or was this more about making an impression within the industry?
Both. Initial intent was to prove the value of branded content marketing.

Jesse Rath - Austin
David Reale - Mack
Mike Seater - Scoot
John Boylan - Boss
Erin Simkin - Photography