Producer, Director & Editor. The three principals of Windowseat in silhouette.

What they do is grab your attention and make you laugh. In one noir-styled Windowseat commercial, a scuzzy-looking fellow creeps up on a car to steal gas. The camera zooms in on his rotten black teeth as he sucks the siphon to start the flow. When he slinks off with his prize, another close-up shows him grinning, his teeth now gleaming pearly white. The spot is for Pennzoil’s Gumout engine-cleaning fuel additive.

“Our primary creative focus is telling narrative stories,” says John, “whether it’s a 15- or 30-second spot or a short film.” Windowseat infuses passion in a form tainted by incessant exposure. “Most people don’t enjoy advertising,” admits John. “They’re bombarded by commercials, and they need a break. We strive to create entertainment, especially advertising, that inspires — that they’ll even look forward to seeing again.”

The Windowseat team takes its tools of choice — PowerBooks and Final Cut Pro — everywhere. “We couldn’t have gotten into the filmmaking business without Apple,” states John. “We have grown up with Apple products, to the point where they are an extension of us. Our creativity happens on the move, and with these computers we are not anchored. We can work in the style we feel most comfortable in.”

Original Perspectives
Windowseat conceives, directs, shoots and edits its work in the perpetual quest for a fresh outlook. “Sometimes it just hits you, but most of the time you have to work at it,” says John. “In our global society, most of us see the same images. So what we do is look for the connections, and people seem to appreciate that — what we show them taps into something they feel.”

The year-old firm has earned a following in action sports. “We go after clients we respect,” says John; “we like their work and their products.” These include shoe company Vans, boardwear manufacturer Volcom, wheel- and deck-maker Darkstar Skateboards, and a grassroots non-profit called SOS Outreach that conducts snowboarding programs for at-risk youth. Toss in a rock band like Hella and you have a roster hip enough to keep Windowseat’s creative juices flowing.

One recent spot for Vans, titled “American Nightmare,” features 2002 Olympic silver snowboarding medallist Danny Kass smashing a chair in a padded cell — and breaking gravitational bounds on a snowy mountain half-pipe. Edited with Final Cut Pro on PowerBook G4s, the commercial is running nationally on MTV, NBC, Fox and WB. It’s also aired more than 40,000 times around the world via the company’s website.

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