Director Nathan Catucci Helms Spec Spot “Where Pickles Come From”

The spot opens with young woman eating a Vlasic pickle as she walks down the hallway and into the kitchen. To her shock she finds the Vlasic stork rooting in her fridge as he gives her a pleasant, “Hi, Erin.” Her fear and confusion only deepens as she hears, “Yo, Erin!” offscreen. The camera pans 180° to reveal a man dressed as a baby, asking “Where’d you get the pickle from?” The spot ends on a product shot and the tagline, “Vlasic: it’s where pickles come from.”

Catucci conceived of the spot and chose to shoot the action in a single shot, only cutting to the product shot at the end. “I wanted to keep the momentum moving throughout, and put the viewer in her world. As everything is revealed to her, it’s revealed to the audience.”

The piece was shot at a friend’s home in Montclair, N.J. on an Arri Alexa by cinematographer Behnood Dadfar, with casting by Matthew Messinger, both frequent collaborators of Nathan Catucci’s.

“I worked out storyboards with [Storyboard Artist] Mercer Boffey and then created an animatic that timed out the piece,” said Catucci. “This prep kept the crew on location for only 8 hours and the actors to only a half day. Paper is very much a part of my process. Our team did a tremendous job and worked hard to create a wonderful piece with a small budget.

Nathan Catucci is a director and founder of Obscura Pictures, a New York film and video production company dedicated to storytelling. He’s currently in development on his first feature film, “Impossible Monsters.”

SPW Video Credits: