The original agency script for this Dodge Ram commercial was all about Manhattan’s Second Avenue Subway. The agency wanted to shoot in the subway tunnel that was under construction. Several production companies were bidding for the job, and hitting a dead end with the NYC Transit Film Office. Believe Media hired me to take a crack at it, and I got them in the door by making contact with Rich Fitzsimmons, business agent of NYC Local 147 Tunnel Workers (Sandhogs.) Rich told me the Second Ave. subway was old news- it was almost finished- and that the real action was at the East Side Access Tunnel, the massive Sandhog construction project under Grand Central. He put me in touch with the President of MTA Capital Construction, and that got the ball rolling. As every location manager knows, persistence pays off- never take no for an answer! LM David Clark took over after that, and brought this cool project to fruition.
