Spike Jonze directs Idris Elba in latest Squarespace commercial

Spike Jonze has just been in the UK directing through MJZ the latest commercial Squarespace for their current campaign. Starring Idris Elba is shows him getting a shot at realising his childhood dreams in a flash-back sequence where the actor plays out his wildest childhood aspirations including stints as a professional athlete, chef and fighter pilot.  Art directed by Art Departments Amanda McArthur ably assisted by Bridget Menzies and Emma Davis they faced quite a few challenges over the month long prep and shoot. The cake sequence presented huge problems which Amanda solved with great imagination.

“It was the night before the shoot and the steaming real cake wasn’t working.  We had had people baking cakes for days.  We tried hard foam but it was too stiff and didn’t have the holey texture of cake. So I thought soft foam might do the trick if we could make it real enough, only to find that all the new foam I could buy was green or blue. It was getting late and with no options left, I started tearing up the cushions at home and my patio cushions came to the rescue, they were cake colour. With the help of the Machine Shop boys, some real frosting and spray paint. We got the steam coming up through the foam and the transition into the astronaut sequence was going to work.”

Good enough to want a slice – gotta love Spike Jones, Idris Elba and Amanda’s patio cushions!!  Great job done well!!