Why Morgan Spurlock Partnered With Haagen-Dazs For His latest Doc “Crafted”

when you think of artisans and food, likelihood is the first thing you consider shouldn’t be the ice cream model Haagen-Dazs, a subsidiary of Nestle. the emblem has at all times said its intention was once to “find the purest and finest substances in the world…and craft them into the most effective ice cream,” and its newest advertising effort appears to be as a minimum a valiant effort to affiliate with people who produce merchandise at a extra handmade, smaller scale than, say, a world food service provider.

but instead of looking to create a much less-than-authentic image of itself or awkwardly slap its logo all over the place a story no longer its own, Haagen-Dazs determined to take the low-profile manner. basically, it requested filmmaker Morgan Spurlock to make a documentary about artisans.

“That was it,” says Spurlock. “That used to be their entire pitch in about eight phrases—’‘We need to make a movie about artisans.’ We said, ‘nice, this is how we wish to make it.’ and they just let us make the film we wanted to make.”

The 25-minute movie Crafted, which premiered at the 2015 los angeles film festival this week, profiles three meals-related artisans, Georgia knife makers Bloodroot Blades, San Francisco restaurant Bar Tartine, and Nagatani pottery in Japan.

For Spurlock, who has numerous documentary displays and tasks on the go, together with on Morgan Spurlock within Man on CNN, connected on AOL, American Takedown on A&E, and two on-line sequence for Maker.television, working with brands is solely differently to inform a narrative. He says that Haagen-Dazs company Ketchum got in touch with him thru CAA and he jumped on the possibility, something he never imagined while making the best movie Ever bought in 2010.

“5 years ago after I was making finest film Ever sold, it took me 100 cellphone calls to get two brands to say sure,” says Spurlock. “Out of the 900 manufacturers I called, I got 18. It was once an awfully different time and now there has been a sea trade, and brands see there may be value in working with creators, an actual upside to producing sensible content material that doesn’t need to promote you a widget or ice cream. That indirectly you could create one thing that boosts a brand ideology or id that may transcend to a consumer base in a technique that’s still entertainment.”

it can be no longer the first time Spurlock has labored with a worldwide brand, creating short films with both GE and Toyota within the ultimate couple of years. His principles of engagement with brands are pretty easy. the first is to grasp what tasks fit which doable partners. second, both events want to work as partners.

“relying on what the mission is, these persons are paying hundreds of lots and possibly millions of dollars to make it with you and it is a partnership,” he says. “You need to have an open talk with companions and allow them to recognize that they have got a voice. you want a companion to know they’re being listened to and their feedback are being heard. on the finish of the day, you continue to need to make what you wish to have to make, if anyone is spending all varieties of cash on it, they’re additionally going to want to have some input and i’m k with that. you have to be open to that process, especially for those who’re going to construct, develop, and scale a business. We’ve been very fortunate in our skill to adapt and work with a wide range of individuals and companions.”

Spurlock would not see so much of a difference between working with a brand or an incredible studio. both are investing in the creative course of. “If a model was taking a look to shove brand messaging, id and product down my throat, that’s an extraordinarily totally different story,” he says. “but if it’s a brand who’s giving a filmmaker the flexibility to tell a story they want to tell, I don’t see the difference between getting the money from a model or getting the cash from Paramount photos. as long as I’m getting the prospect to tell a narrative I need to inform.”

Watch the whole Crafted film on Amazon fast Video.