And how
did you cast the, ahem, male driver?
I sent
the script and concept to a number of producers and people I thought might be
interested. Mike Farah at Funny or Die suggested that I reach out to Jon Hamm.
I was literally in the middle of a Mad Men marathon and thought that he would
be perfect. I wanted someone recognizable to be the driver that picks up the
hitch hiking yeti. I wanted it to be unexpected and random. Similar to the
celebrity cameos in old Muppet movies Jon was perfect for this. At the time
they were a bit swamped at Funny or Die, so Mike suggested that I reach out to
Jon’s manager.A week or so went by without any response. I was literally about to cast someone else when I got an email from Jon’s manager saying he loved the idea and the music and wanted to do this. I think we were all a bit surprised. Funny or Die jumped on board to help fly Jon to Austin and take care of everything he needed. Jon was really easy going and fun to work with. Looking back on the production of that video I’m always amazed at all the things that came together to make it happen. We were blessed to work with so many talented people. Not only is Jon an incredible actor, but he is also really down to earth and extremely funny.
Any other
fun facts about the video?
The
little child at the gas station was my girlfriend’s nephew Lincoln. It’s always
amazing to watch kids interact with puppets. They become so fascinated by the
puppet that they don’t acknowledge that the puppeteer is there.It was funny driving through downtown Austin, TX during SXSW. I was in the back seat with the cinematographer, Ross Riege, and the puppeteer was crammed in the passenger seat well so it would look like Jon was driving around with only the yeti. You would hear people from the sidewalks say, “Sweet ride!… Whoa puppet!…. *#%@ that’s Jon Hamm!”
Jon
cruised out to my buddy Craig Thibaudeau’s place after the shoot. We had a
little wrap party in his garage with some homemade beers and we passed the
guitar around playing folk music. I love playing folk music. I think we were
all talking about Segway’s when we heard a loud pounding on the garage wall. It
was Jon saying, “Hey nerds, where’s the beer!” It was a fun wrap party. My
buddy Craig and Jon played hockey in the middle of the garage while we played
music and hung out. I’m surprised no one got injured. Jon won the match. He’s a
great hockey player.
http://www.onepointfour.co/2012/04/03/hello-little-fella/
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DEENAH VOLLMER: How's the music video shoot going?
JON HAMM: We finished the video last night around 11:00. We finished by driving with the puppet in the convertible through Austin. It was really fun. I think it's going to be a really cool video.
VOLLMER: So tell me about how you came to be a part of the Herman Dune music video?
HAMM: I guess it came to me through FunnyOrDie, who I guess is producing it. I had done some stuff with folks over at FunnyOrDie and it just sort of came to me. They said, "Would you want to do this?" I listened to the song, and I looked at the concept, and it seemed kind of cool, and I had no idea South by Southwest was even going on. I just thought, "Cool, I would go down and spend a couple days in Texas and shoot this." The fact that this was also South By was doubly pleasant.
VOLLMER: Have you been in any music videos before?
HAMM: No, I don't think so. A couple buddies of mine out in LA had a band, and I think we all helped them out and did one music video for them, that never went anywhere. This is the first real-deal one.
VOLLMER: Has it felt different from doing TV?
HAMM: No, the schedule is a little different, and it's making a three-minute thing, so it's a little different in that respect, but no, it's the same.
VOLLMER: You're co-starring with a puppet. Is it the cutest puppet you've ever worked with?
HAMM: It's pretty cute, yes. I have not worked with a lot of puppets, but this one I would suggest is the cutest. It's pretty adorable.
VOLLMER: Can you tell me what the concept for the video is?
HAMM: It's a little story about a lost yeti, a lost little snowman creature, abominable snowman, who is blue and sad because he is lost; and he gets picked up by me, and I decide to try to cheer him up by taking him to a rock-and-roll show in Austin, Texas, which I think works.
VOLLMER: Cool. What did you think of the Herman Dune set that they played the other night?
HAMM: Yeah, it was great. Those guys are really talented, and they put out a lot of sound for two dudes and a guitar and a rudimentary percussion kit. They're very creative, and they're very artistic, and they have cool songs. It's nice. They're French, so singing in another language has got to be tricky, but they pull it off.
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