This marks an unforgettable partnership with the great people of Comedy Central. We were tasked with the challenge of creating an immersive show open and a host of in-show packaging elements for the Comedy Central Roast of James Franco.
This roast was different from previous ones in that the roastee was not a typical, easy target. He’s one of the youngest (most cool, attractive, interesting, learned, smart) and diverse people to have ever been roasted by the network. That said, our directive was to create an open that celebrates all of this in a classic and sophisticated way, but also has doses of mindful humor injected within that plays up James’ very own humor and personality.
2014 PromaxBDA Global
2xGold
2xSilver
Bronze
2014 PromaxBDA North America
Gold
In that James was to be roasted by some of his closest friends, we were charged by Comedy Central to contemporize the Dean Martin Rat Pack. After pitching five, solid treatments, we ultimately crafted a film entitled FRANCO in which Mr. Franco is the writer, director, makeup artist, caterer, assistant to himself and special assistant to the assistant to himself. The film jettisons through James’ decorated career and culminates in full armageddon fashion based on his then latest film, This is the End.
Our team was honored to experience the fruits of our labor, live, at the filming of the Roast in Culver City, CA. FRANCO really got the crowd going and set the perfect stage for Roastmaster, Seth Rogen’s entrance.
“Needless to say, everyone at Comedy Central is ecstatic and loves how the open turned out. From the initial storyboards, I knew that this direction had tremendous potential. The team at T&F went above and beyond and delivered the perfect open and packaging for the event. Concept, design, writing, editing, animation, finishing, project management – on every front, it was everything I’d hoped it would be.”
– Executive Creative Director, Comedy Central
