The Briefing Room

Santa Monica, CA, Aug 17, 2007 - Stompbox, an original music composition and sound design production company based in Santa Monica, has produced original music for a dramatic, new Transamerica Financial Life Insurance spot.

The storyline for this new spot, entitled “Dreams,” follows golf pro Zach Johnson‘s journey, the endless pursuit of his dream — to not only make it to the Masters Tournament, but to win. The Transamerica commercial allows the viewer at home an opportunity to relate with Zach on a personal level, in that everyone has dreams and goals in life. Zach Johnson‘s back story, told in the spot, is that it took him quite a while to find a sponsor before he could actually fulfill his dream. The Transamerica Company made that dream possible by sponsoring him when no one else would. Zach Johnson not only made it to the Masters, but he won.

Stompbox, under the direction of Paul Hurtubise, and the assistance of Ceinwynn Clark, provided an orchestral score for the spot. “Our clients said they had an abundance of riches to choose from,” Paul laughs, “but they finally whittled it down to one piece that everyone liked very much.” Stompbox‘s clients selected a very emotional piece of music composed by Greg Chun. However, Paul continues, “We wanted to go a step further and record a trumpet player. That’s when the services of Dan Fornero were employed; he took something that was already great, and gave it dazzling shades of brilliance.”

The sound effects for the “Dreams” spot were a combination of field recordings and SFX that went back and forth between Paul and the editor, Roger Marshall. “The effects really helped to anchor the spot down and keep it real”, Paul says, “which is crucial for a spot like this.”

Crush‘s Roger Marshall, the editor of this spot, said, “The objective in the editing of this spot was to allow the images time to play out, thus building on the emotion of the story. We wanted to reach the viewer on a personal level, tugging at the heart strings.”

Credits for new Transamerica spot are:

Advertising Agency:

Transamerica‘s In-House Marketing Department

Creatives: Bob Wittenberg

Producer: Scott Campbell/Mike Cunningham

Production Company:

Unit 5 Productions, Santa Monica, CA

Exec. Producer: Jeff Maier

Director: Greg Daniels

Editorial Company:

Crush, Santa Monica, CA

Executive Producer: Chris Kern

Producer: Lisa Ashe

Editor: Roger Marshall

VISUAL EFFECTS:

Voodoo, Santa Monica

VFX Artist: Ernie Smith

Audio Production & Post:

Stombox, Santa Monica, CA.

Mixer: Paul Hurtubise

ABOUT STOMPBOX MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN:

Founded in l998 in Santa Monica, CA, Stompbox Music and Sound Design is a leading boutique original music composition and sound design facility. The company specializes in providing music and audio for TV spots, videogame promos, movie trailers, and other media projects.

Stompbox Music and Sound Design underscores the true life of film, be it musical instrument, or imaginative, atypical element. The final results are that an undeniable emotion is achieved. Stompbox‘s team can work the full spectrum of commercial advertising, including high impact, soft sell, humorous, emotional, or instructive.

Stompbox is located along with its sister companies Crush Editorial and Voodoo Graphics and Effects , at 1616 - 17th Street, Santa Monica, CA, 90404. The phone is 310/392-4226, and the web is www.stompboxsound.com

###