Known Studios Wins Its Third Emmy Award
Fresh off their latest Emmy win, this one for the launch of “Jeopardy All Star Games,” I sat down with Known Studios presidents Mark Feldstein and Brad Roth for a behind-the-scenes look at how they consistently generate breakthrough creative, what it’s like to work with the greatest Jeopardy winners of all time, and how surprised they were when iconic host Alex Trebek gave them a shout out on the show itself. But first, here’s the hero spot:
So let’s start at the beginning — you get asked to build a campaign for Jeopardy. Are you fans of the show? Was that a big moment in and of itself?
I mean…who isn’t a life-long fan of Jeopardy!? This truly is an iconic show. It’s always a thrill when you get an opportunity to create a campaign around a series you’ve admired for decades. Especially when the goal is to deliver something that really contemporizes and evolves the show’s classic status.
Where did the concept come from? Can you tell us about how the idea came to be, and what the client fell in love with? Was there a big brand idea this was born from?
This stunt was for Jeopardy! All-Star Games. We’re talking about the best of best when it comes the show’s past champions — with fan favorites like Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter serving as team captains. Essentially, it’s Jeopardy on steroids. So we started thinking, if we’re spotlighting the legendary heroes of Jeopardy, they deserve a campaign that’s as epic as they are. So we had the idea of a badass power walk a la Ocean’s 11 to help turn them into the ultimate brainy badasses… The simple concept just wrote itself. And ViacomCBS had seen the big, epic, star-studded campaign we had shot for Dancing With The Stars and knew we would bring a true heightened, cinematic quality to the campaign.
The contestants aren’t exactly the level of talent you are used to working with. What was it like working with normal, but brilliant, people on set? I assume they were reading atlases and encyclopedias between takes?
We typically get the call when a client needs to create a campaign featuring celebrity talent… like The Rock, Kevin Hart or Kristen Bell… but this certainly involved a different type of talent. The brainpower on the set was off the charts. But even though they’re extremely intellectual, they were really excited about the production. After all, who doesn’t appreciate a little Hollywood magic and glamour? But if you want some off-the-record scoop…. In-between takes they actually were into bareknuckle brawling. Joking.
I watched the episode, and I saw that Alex talked about the promo on air, during the show. Is that normal for our marketing work? Does it happen often?
That was definitely a nice surprise. It’s always validating when a legend like Alex Trebek publicly compliments the work. Was exciting to see Alex and the All-Stars rave about the spot and the fun experience they had making it. But this actually wasn’t the first time something like that has happened. Earlier this year, we had created the billboard and print campaign for HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — featuring his painfully awkward high school photo. John was a guest on Stephen Colbert and when they began talking about his show, Colbert and John started gushing about the work … and Colbert even called it ‘The most honest advertising I’ve ever seen’.
Who were you cheering for to win the All-Star Games? Don’t worry, I won’t tell the other contestants.
I don’t trust you. (Mark)
‘Team Brad’, of course. (Brad)
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