Under the creative leadership of head creative Andy Hann and senior creative director Matt Hall, the BIGSMACK team collaborated with A&E’s in-house team to write, produce and post an extensive campaign, that is being rolled out now, as a daily countdown to the launch of the third season on Feb. 27.
Hann and director Scott Whitham co-directed a remarkable 21 spots in just two days. The BIGSMACK team faced tremendous challenges shooting in the deep rural bayou of Louisiana in the dead of winter.
“Duck Dynasty has literally become a phenomenon for A&E, being their highest rated show to date,” said Hann. “It has huge fan appeal, so we were thrilled when they asked us to take a crack at what appeared to be the impossible. We jumped right in with the A&E senior creatives Maria Pecoraro and Keith Kopnicki, and fleshed out and wrote a mountain of scripts over the course of a week.”
Duck Dynasty features the Robertsons – a Louisiana bayou family living the American dream as they operate a thriving business while staying true to their family values and lifestyle. After creative concepting and writing was complete, the BIGSMACK production team flew down to Louisiana. They were met with seven inches rain-soaked roads in early January, and show fans appearing on set to get a peek at the Robertsons, known for their signature long beards. Hann and Whitham had just two days to shoot the show’s main characters. Strategically planning the logistics for the shoot, they had two crews shoot simultaneously at an enormous Bayou location in Monroe, La.
“We went in with a plan of course, but due to the volume of spots, unpredictable weather and an unfamiliar location, a lot of adjustments and improv had to happen in Monroe days and hours before the shoot,” explained BIGSMACK’s head of marketing Andrew Kobliska. Mud soaked roads, trucks and equipment coming from hundreds of miles away, and crew arriving the night before were part of the challenges the production team was up against. “While Andy was directing one spot, he had to think about the next two spots so we could have a crew set things up ahead of time. The crew was awesome: great hustle; great attitude. The DPs Andrew Turman and Patrick Loungway were absolutely incredible. Because of the circumstances, the DP’s had to act essentially as co-directors, and they really came through. The members of the Robertson family were all good sports. They hung in there with us and they were willing to do whatever we asked, which included being submerged in freezing water. They have natural talent, and great comedic timing. They really are a wonderful, funny family, which is why they are loved by so many fans worldwide.”
