Los Angeles is the world’s dream machine, the international hub for movies, television, and music. Yet as often as we (rightfully) tout the city’s Hollywood glamor, we also underappreciate the seismic work that is the city’s advertising productions. Many of the biggest production companies that work exclusively in the advertising world call Los Angeles their home and are infused with the city’s creative influence to make some of the most visually stunning advertisements. To that end, we at right.video want to show off the best advert production companies currently based in the City of Angels. Whether its from the seaside of Santa Monica or just off the Hollywood strip, we no doubt that if you’re ever in LA that you can give these companies a call.
Director: Johnny Kelly
Client: Chipotle
Agency: Creative Artists Agency
We begin our list with this delightful advert from Nexus Studios, a production firm founded in 2000 that specializes in the animation field. To highlight its commitment to animation, we wanted to highlight this particular advert for the Chipotle fast food chain, focusing on the industrialization of the farm before turning toward a sustainable means of production of produce. Designed to emphasize Chipotle’s commitment to sustainability, “Back to the Start” harkens back to the animation stylings of Rankin-Bass for an advert that’s both nostalgic and keeping to the present.
Director: Tom Kuntz
Client: Old Spice
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy
Biscuit Filmworks, like Nexus, was founded in 2000, gradually earning an intense critical reputation for its commercial work. Perhaps the most famous ad campaign created by the firm is no doubt this advert for Old Spice, unleashing the Old Spice Man into the pop culture sphere. Shot completely in one take, “The Man” advert is an exercise in commitment to tone and direction, showing off the increasingly ludicrous nature of the Man’s monologues. Such was the preparation, priority of practical effects with minimum CGI, and the charisma of actor Isaiah Mustafa that “The Man” would earn the Cannes Lion Grand Prix Award in 2010.
Director: Ringan Ledwidge
Client: Jose Cuervo
Agency: MDC Partners
Founded in 2006, Rattling Stick has made a jack-of-all-trades reputation for itself, offering services for not only adverts but also music videos, title sequences, an even feature films. With a focal point on storytelling, we wanted to highlight an advert that brought Rattling Stick’s sensibilities to the forefront. For that, we turn to this advert for Jose Cuervo, showing off an rather welcoming apocalypse. Instead of being dour or gloomy, it revels in the sensation of living in the moment, not matter what tomorrow may bring.
Director: Steve Rogers
Client: Amazon Prime Video
Agency: Droga5
We talked at length about Somesuch in our UK production companies article but the firm has since expanded its reach to American shores with its LA-based cousin. Part of the ‘Great Shows Stay with You’ campaign for Amazon Prime video, this particular version focuses on the Jack Ryan series, with a father of two gradually emulating the Tom Clancy protagonist as the show progresses. It matches the tone of the acclaimed show brilliantly, while also hilarious showing off the repercussions of such a show lingering in the psyche.
Director: N/A
Client: Hulk Limbo Inc.
Agency: N/A
Unlike most of the production companies we’re highlighting on this list, Buck did not work with an agency or have a traditional director at the helm of this advert. Created for magician David Blaine’s special in 2017, Buck took an animated approach that was designed to be a glimpse into the performer’s
mind. The result is a colorful, off-kilter look that evokes psychodelia, paired with a narration by actor Christopher Walken to add to the surrealist look. It’s a magnificent glimpse into a modern master of stagecraft that invites us into the world of David Blaine.
Director: Henry Alex Rubin
Client: Sandy Hook Promise
Agency: BBDO New York
Founded in 2002, Smuggler has worked with a wide-assortment of business clientele with often humorous results. However, there is perhaps no other hard-hitting advert from a production company on this list than the one they produced earlier this year. Made for the gun control lobbying group Sandy Hook Promise, the advert starts innocently enough as a normal back-to-school campaign before dovetailing into every parent’s worst nightmare. It’s an advert that pulls no punches, and bitingly highlights a uniquely American phenomenon that shows no signs of ending anytime soon.
Director: Spike Jonze
Client: Kenzo
Agency: Framework
We’ve spoken highly of Spike Jonze’s award-winning “Welcome Home” advert that he directed on behalf of Apple with MJZ in the past. Today, though, we wanted to look at that ad’s off-the-rocker cousin, made for Kenzo’s fragrance collection in 2016. You can see some of the crucial bones of “Welcome Home” here, with its focus on a dancer for the majority of the advert. Yet there’s a wild, untapped energy on display in contrast to that advert’s graceful elegance. It’s a welcome callback to Jonze’s own Weapon of Choice music video and one that shows off the growth of an exceptional director and company.
Director: Malik Vitthal
Client: Procter & Gamble
Agency: BBDO
Founded in 2013, The Corner Shop was created on the singular purpose as a small outfit dedicated to making great work by enlisting an elite team of directors. It’s a formula that has won the firm massive acclaim from industry critics and this advert in particular is a testament to the Corner Shop ethos. Like
the advert “Back to School Essentials”, it’s a hard-hitting America-centric topic, this time focused around the ‘talk’ that black parents give to their children about the prejudices they will face growing up. Created in the wake of George Floyd’s death, it’s a call to acknowledge the bias in society in the hopes of creating a better one in its place.
Director: Squarehead
Client: Getty Images
Agency: BBDO
Founded in 2009 in London, the Stink Films company has since expanded globally, with offices in both New York and Los Angeles to name but a few locations. To highlight its work from both offices, we wanted to highlight this advert for Getty Images, taking a look at the night of one of the most famous fights in boxing history. Though framed as a photographic documentary of the Fight of the Century, “Endless Stories” also encompasses famed American singer Frank Sinatra and crime boss Frank Lucas in connection with the famous match. It’s an advert that goes to show off how even one story has ties to several more that the world was waiting to see play out.
Director: Daniel Lindsay
Client: The New York Times
Agency: Droga5
Santa Monica-based Furlined takes the top spot on our list, being the home of not only some of the best directors that the advertising agency has known in recent years, but some of the most visually stunning ads as well. To highlight the firm’s commitment to visuals, we’ve chosen to highlight this advert for The New York Times’ “The Truth is Worth It” campaign. Taking cues from the paper’s trademark format with
a reporter’s investigation into ISIS, the advert is a monument to the Times’ pursuit of truth, no matter what obstacles may lay in its path.
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We hope that you enjoyed our journey through the City of Angels’ best ad production companies. Whether it’s reliving the Fight of the Century or losing yourself to dance, we believe that these are some of the best production companies that you can find in the Los Angeles area. Though these are our personal favorites, there are even more production companies in the city and throughout the California state that you can find on the right.video search engine!
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