OMG Everywhere! had a pretty awesome summer. The LA-based nonprofit run by music video directors has been hosting week-long summer workshops for kids in the LA area for three years now. This year, they also took the camp to New York and London, and capped off the summer by having the LA camp direct OMGs first official, label-funded music video for "Radiate" by Jack Johnson. If you want an idea of how OMG Everywhere works, all you need to do is watch this video, which starts with Jack challenging the kids to make a video for the song, and follows the entire process of them coming up with the ideas and then executing them. Daniel Scheinert, one half of the directing duo DANIELS and a primary organizer of OMG, helped make the Jack Johnson and OMG connection happen, and we talked to him about how OMG! Everywhere was able to make a summer camp-directed music video. Photos by Joyce Kim
Doug: How did Jack Johnson and OMG Everywhere get together to make this video?
Daniel: We (Daniel and I) got a brief from Jack Johnson saying they wanted a video that was different from their simple Jack performing to camera stuff. And it was our music video rep Jamie Rabineau who suggested that OMG might be a good fit. She was already helping us look out for bands to come to camp etc. So we pitched the idea to Jack and his team, and they were really excited and supportive.
Doug: This is the first official music video directed by OMG Everywhere. Was making an official music video something you guys have always wanted to try to do with the camp?
Daniel: It was never a goal but it was definitely an idea we joked about. Raising a few thousand dollars to put on this camp is so challenging, but it's hilariously minuscule compared to the amount of money people often spend on a music video. I always thought to myself if we did one Katy Perry video for OMG and most of the budget went to the organization, we could put on this camp for a couple decades.
In the end, it was very important that we made sure the project and the camp were a good fit. We did not want to let this camp get bogged down by the negotiations and seriousness that come along with official videos. We told Jack this has to be a crazy fun day for the kids. No label standing at the monitor, no approval of which kids' ideas get made or not made. At least not on the shoot day, you know? And not many artists or labels would have agreed to that. But I think that's what made the final product so sweet.
Doug: The video shows the campers pitching their ideas and then immediately shows those ideas come to life. How much time did you guys actually have to bring their ideas to life, and what did you have to do to pull it off?
Daniel: I think we had them pitch ideas on a Wednesday morning and then on Friday morning we brought in a moving truck full of props and told the kids we're going to make all of your ideas today! There were 26 kids I think. Some of them had more than one idea. So a day and half to get it all and one day to shoot it all.
Doug: About how many counselors were there to help out on the final day of camp when everything was shot? What kind of help did you have in terms of expertise and on-set ability?
Daniel: Yeah, so it was crazy ambitious and we couldn't have done it without the tireless work from Susie Francis whose team built and rented innumerable props and production designed all these kids' ideas, Corban Poorboy whose team rented and built all the costumes (she made the penguins and hamburgers and mermaids), and our amazing volunteers at the camp. And all of them just volunteered to do it. My friend Josh Solar-Doherty was driving the truck to rental houses all day. Meanwhile the rest of us at least got to play on the slip n' slide!
Doug: Rumor has it there is a Jack Johnson and Jack Johnson make out scene on the cutting room floor. Can you confirm this claim?
Daniel: Maaaybe. There were so many ideas, and we worked with the label to focus the video a bit which means some amazing stuff is on the cutting room floor. Yes, there was a makeout scene in the rain, a bacon eating contest, dancing penguins, a zombies on trampolines, chase scene, and MORE.
