Stun Creative, the Kings Of Comedy content

While some ad agencies are trying to re-brand themselves as "storytellers" and "branded content creators" and opening small offices in Los Angeles, they'll soon find that Stun Creative is already there and has a great big head start on creating branded entertainment. Situated a skip away from LACMA with equal travel distance to the studios of Brentwood as to Sony's Culver City, Mark Feldstein and Brad Roth have built a company that can create anything from comedy, to commercials, to a branded documentary. With any luck, they'll be coming home with a Cannes Lion this year, to place alongside their countless Emmy awards that barely fit in their office.

Are media agencies the banks of advertising? we ask. They have the dough and they have the added leverage on the networks, and can say 'I want some added value on this media buy...' And media agencies can say 'We can do some product placement, or produce some content for you'.
"Right", says Mark Feldstein adding, "...and we do have those relationships not just with the brands, but also with media brands like the networks. We built our company servicing them. We have the relationships. So when it came time for BMW to do the show - NBC Sochi Olympics BMW bobsled team - not only were we recommended by UM studios, but NBC blessed us as well."
Stun creative isn't just the content and creative division, there's also a quirky motion graphic and animation division called Buster. Then there's a digital and print design division called BusterINK.
Brad explains "People can pick up the phone, call one number and get everything, or they can say 'We need a print campaign, lets call BusterINK'. With these divisions they have all the talent they can use, in house.
"It's a really good group. We really can assemble an enormous amount of talent very quickly against any project. A project comes and often they need a very quick turnaround - as they all seem to do - and we can assemble a very diverse group of talent to get it done fast be it integrated or comedy."
I jump in: "...other companies that are trying to do this say that they have a pool of freelance talent they can call..."
"The collective or freelance company idea is inherently flawed. You have to be able to commit, you have to have a base. You can obviously expand and contract to assignments to a degree, but at the core you need a solid creative team to be in a business in any real way. Because the truth is, if you're good, you're getting called a lot." Brad explains.
"The agency model has shifted, and we've been at the forefront of redefining it" Mark agrees, "we can handle a full production no matter how big or how small. If it's content, production, or graphics, it's just one call."
At the base of it all is the idea, and Stun burns for the simple and hilarious idea. To announce Curb Your Enthusiasm TV Guide, Stun knew that whatever they came up with had to convince Larry David it was worth doing. They riffed the "clapper too close" idea, and Larry David liked it, he infused it with his character making it a reality bending cinéma vérité comedy clip.