Well, we weren’t actually there but, since mid January 2011 you may have been acquainted with the beautiful (much thinner) Jennifer Hudson singing, “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone for Weight Watchers Points Plus System. Audible Playground surely had an extensive workout music editing and arranging a series of TV spots for the advertiser. Music Producer Michael Boris of McCann Erickson NY brought in Casey Chester [AP] to be part of the team. “Along with the many different arrangements we put together, this gig really put our mobile capabilities to good use” say’s Chester. Audible Playground’s role was an integral part early on in the process for Sharon Ehrlich (Writer/GCD) and Danny Rodriguez’s (AD/GCD) vision. Chester brought his fancy mobile studio and went to work with them right at the agency. Chester explains “It sometimes helps for me to go to them so they can throw out ideas and multitask while I am working away. We started with a demo of the full song (produced and arranged by renowned producer Saalam Remi), and began cutting various spots to present to the client. It was tricky because they wanted to use certain lyrics and needed room for dialog to fit in between, so arranging them was a challenge at times”. Throughout production Chester was working remotely in his full up studio outside of NYC, editing and fine-tuning to the final produced song. “It was great to hear Jennifer’s final vocal on the song, she really sang the hell out of it!” says Chester. After the music video was shot, it went to Union Editorial for the video editing. As the first round of production was nearing the end and some of the spots were ready to ship, Audible Playground was back on the road again with its fancy mobile rig to work out of the editorial. “I was like BAM, here I am… lets knock this thing out!.. ” And they did explained Chester jokingly. “It was great to go directly where they all were working to make efficient time” I see this being a great asset for agencies and editorials when needing music editing, sound design, or someone audibly creative by their side. Therefore I can continue to be part of the full audio production and see it though to the end” says Chester. You can see Jennifer Hudson and the entire Weight Watchers campaign just by turning on the TV. She is everywhere
