Latest Work: The Virus Doesn’t Take a Vacation

The virus doesn’t give a f—k … but we do!

This year, Novus Select has taken on a number of PSA projects, from a collaboration with Google about domestic violence to creating a series of a local PSA videos for my home, South Lake Tahoe, about wearing masks, washing hands, and practicing safe social distancing while on vacation here.

One of the challenges with PSA content is using your creativity to capture people’s attention. We came up with the concept of “The virus doesn’t give a f—k!” Our client loved the idea as well, though they felt it needed to appeal to the broadest audience possible.

We shot a total of five spots, but these are two of my favorites. I thought it would be fun to share both the final/client cuts and the director’s cuts in the spirit of pulling back the curtains on the creative process so people understand the evolution of spots. Which one do you like most?

This project was a true collaboration within Novus Select between myself, Lincoln Else, and Amelia Richmond, the producer who brought this project together in a big way. On production, Dane Henry was our DP, Bligh Gillies was our still photographer and first AC, and Sean Davis was our second AC and camera-movement specialist. Thanks to Bryan Liscinsky for managing the post production on this project, Dariel Medina for the edit, and Shawn Corrigan for doing color! Finally, thanks to my fellow Novus partner Andy Mead for scoring the music.

I’m super proud of our team and love how both the director’s cuts and final cuts turned out! Thanks to everyone for their work and creativity, including our talent—special shout out to Chris McNamara, Viktoria McNamara, Johnny Norman, the Cannon family, Jay and the Tahoe Brazilian mafia!

And big thanks to Devin Middlebrook for being the champion of this concept and coordinating all the agencies: Tahoe Regional Planing Agency, Lake Tahoe Visitor’s Authority, El Dorado County, the city of South Lake Tahoe, and Barton Health.

And please wear a mask, wash your hands, and practice safe social distancing, whether you’re here in Tahoe, or anywhere else, to keep our communities safe and healthy!