Scott & Clients
I shoot what I know. I’m a former suburban dad who raised two daughters and a few dogs. Thrived in the buzzsaw of our hectic house: work, school and sports lives. Lost my mom to a long term illness. Lost good people to the politics of divorce. Moved to Manhattan for love and a second rodeo marriage. High’s and lows and scratched up messy moments by the truckload…. and I LOVE IT.
People are endlessly interesting. Why is a huge word for me. What luck, inspiration, trauma, ghosts brought you to this moment? What moves you? The characters I write come from people I meet or read about. Their narrative is a seed. In advertising, we work to move people. I believe it’s through connecting to an emotional truth. It’s not always happy. Emotional truth and relationships are the secret sauce.
My parents are from a rural mill town south of Pittsburgh long with stout working people, local bars, rusted trucks and church on Sunday. Folks getting by. Underneath our modern App driven computerized data lives, I don’t think much has changed. We need a sense of purpose to get out of bed in the morning and each other to get by. I tell those stories.
Play for me is food, a few hours on my bike and a good bookstore. I have a mild obsession with all things kitchen. I love the handwork effort, the science, salt and breaking a few eggs. Using my grandfathers 100 year old Griswold cast iron. Michelle says I have a crush on my butcher. I know people who eat only to not be hungry. They’re not my people. I can’t rebuild a car engine or work several acres of land, but I can go into our small kitchen and feed you a good meal. Friends have asked for recipes, so I started writing them down. I’m posting a few favorites to share.
Fun Fact: high school job was selling peanuts at California Angel baseball games. In front of thousands each night we hustled for commission, dealt with drunk fans, flirted with popcorn girls and saw the occasional double play. I never caught a ball.
Thanks for your interest. Production is an odd unicorn of a business. The adrenaline, the obsessive detail, the olympic problem solving skills. The magic. Our industry is worth it all. It’s a gift to do this. I hope to see you on the road soon.
Coda:
It’s negligent to not acknowledge the elephant in the room. This last year has been hard. I can’t say I’m motivated to document the isolation, the marches, people in masks, the strategic attack on the election. It’s a path worn deep from so many people talking over each other, I can’t hear myself. Yet we want our voices heard. To have someone acknowledge our experience. It’s not my nature to scream over a crowd (unless it’s my set). I’m listening. I’m writing. I’m taking care of those in my orbit. Emotional truth and relationships are the secret sauce - we will get through this.
Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Andersen Windows, Aramark, Bearpaw, General Electric, Land O’ Lakes, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Memorial Sloan Kettering, National Park Service, Nationwide Insurance, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Pennsylvania Tourism, Pfizer, Proctor & Gamble, Shea Homes, Sprint, State Street Financial, Sunovion, United Healthcare, US Army, Univ. of California Irvine, Verizon, Werther’s, Wyndham