Posted on June 16, 2004

So all this week, I've been working on Public Service Announcements (aka commercials) for this organization called Declare Yourself. It's a non-partisan group founded by Norman Lear (the man who responsible for "All in the Family", "Maude", "Good Times", "The Jeffersons" and so many other legendary tv shows) that, like "Rock the Vote" encourages people to register and be heard. Declare Yourself and Comedy Central have teamed up to produce a series of ads that are so simple even I could direct them. So that's what I did.

The concept is, essentially, "In the time it's taken you to watch this, you could've been online, finding out how to register to vote." Those helping us convey this message have been Zach Braff, Ray Romano, Adam Brody, Wanda Sykes, Larry David, Jeff Garlin, and Sarah Silverman. Today, we shoot Ben Affleck, Eliza Dushku, and a pair of stoners who're coming out of semi-retirement for the cause. Then, I fly to NYC and shoot Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Chris Walken and David Cross.

They start airing in July. Pretty funny stuff. Keep an eye out for 'em.

Updated: July 21, 2004

So I got sick and missed the NYC shoot (was halfway to the airport when suddenly I had Parisian flashbacks). Both Chris' dropped out (no Walken or Rock), so that means I didn't get to direct the spots with Molly Shannon, Amy Poehler, and David Cross (which I'm really bummed about).

The spots we shot in LA are really quite good, in my opinion. The Jay and Bob spot is pretty funny, and the Affleck spot is just plain great (and biting in a timely way).

Comedy Central starts airing them in July.

www.declareyourself.com