FX
The Americans
We created this teaser ahead of the final season of FX’s The Americans. The promo ramped up anticipation for the final season and was the result of a creative and collaborative partner process.
View ProjectWhose world is this
Tha God's Honest Truth
Client
Comedy Central
On his new Comedy Central show, Tha God's Honest Truth With Lenard "Charlamagne" McKelvey, the radio star promises a weekly program offering an "unapologetically Black" look at a range of issues in politics and pop culture through in-depth interviews, sketch comedy and "social experiments." We were tasked to create promotional pieces that maintained their brand, in the end delivering three spots and a show package. Our partners at Comedy Central came to us looking to create some memorable and on-brand promotional pieces ahead of the show’s late-night premiere.
We designed three types of spots: one live action, highly composited promo entitled The World is Yours, one focused on a monologue narrated by McKelvey entitled Evolution of Tha God, and the full show package to the series, Tha God’s Honest Truth.
Tha God's Honest Truth
Promo
The World is Yours
In The World is Yours promo, an empty desk sits alone in nature before being transported to Brooklyn with McKelvey in the host’s seat surrounded by a team of collaborators. This concept came to us fully formed by the Comedy Central team, so it was up to us to design it into existence.
ECD, Josh Norton, was on set everyday to collaborate with the director and production team to ensure we got the shots needed and BGSTR artist Casey Drogin could expertly composite each layer together to achieve a seamless look.
The World is Yours
The precise artistry resulted in a culminating shot that frames McKelvey in a way that’s reminiscent of a Renaissance painting or an album cover, delivering a surreal environment that still feels authentic.
Promo
Evolution of Tha God
For the second promo we designed, entitled Evolution, we created an Afrofuturistic spot that speaks to the growth of Charlamagne Tha God as a character over the course of his career. For this highly designed spot, we selected, animated and designed shots based around McKelvey’s voiceover, narrating his thoughts on growth.
Evolution of Tha God
The feel of Evolution is much more personal in regards to McKelvey than the first promo. Leaning into the ask from Charlamagne and Comedy Central, we designed a spot that presents the evolution of Charlamagne and his emergence as a fully formed figure prepared to host his own talk show. For the design, led by Art Director Jane Wu, we created a few styleboards with the clients ultimately gravitating toward two in particular. Jane cut these two into one awesome storyboard that after some tweaking landed on the energetic :20 second promotional spot.
Styleboard 1 designed by Jane Wu
Styleboard 2 designed by Jane Wu
Show Open
Tha God's Honest Truth
We all felt the title sequence needed a completely unique look and feel. We pitched several entirely new concepts for this, landing on an option that shows yet another facet of McKelvey- his gamer side, infused with a healthy dose of Afrofuturism.
Tha God's Honest Truth
A series of interconnected tubes animates as the opening track begins to play. The tubes continue to animate as if electrified, the sound waves and gamer inspired graphics taking it up a notch until McKelvey’s face is revealed in a pullback along with the show’s logo. The concept’s intentionally glitchy transitions add to the futuristic tone and contribute to the overall vibe that McKelvey has experienced his own evolution, leading us through his journey as a person.
It was an absolute pleasure solving the creative challenges of this campaign with BGSTR. Their ability to constantly remain creatively collaborative, fluid, and flexible elevated the artistic execution of this campaign. When you are building a campaign with high expectations and an evolving creative brief, you need a partner committed not only to being able to pivot on a dime but to never sacrifice the integrity of the creative regardless of the new wrinkle. BGSTR exceeded all of my expectations.
Kerry LasterDirector
Props where props are due
Credits
Tha God's Honest Truth
Executive Creative Director Josh NortonExecutive Vice President, Executive Producer Carson HoodHead of Production Virgil ConklinProducer Shannon HallDesigners Jane Wu, Steve Fuller, Dayday, Liu ChialungAnimators Casey Drogin, Jane Wu, Nick Woythaler, Liu Chialung
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