They call me 'Gunny.'

Good friend, and Executive producer/director for the Leinenkugel beer commercials, Ted Lega said to me once, "In this business, you go on runs. This here, has been a pretty good run." 

To date, Ted and his merry band of film- makers at Hotcake have produced 23 airing spots for this epic run of Leinenkugel's commercials, from footage gathered over five shooting trips to Chippewa Falls, WI.

From the Agency side, you have a team of innovative Creatives and Producers led by Steve Simoncic of Jacobson Rost, who coined the term, 'creative non-fiction,' a no-nonsense way of looking at a brand from a positive and authentic perspective. 

Jake and John Leinenkugel are the 'real deal,' fun and laid back, they would stand in the freezing rain till we got the shot. Whatever, whenever, these guys are on. 

On one summer shoot, we had Jake standing on a rock fishing. The story line was, "... and we fish in it" ... for 'Leinenkugel's Canoes for a Cause' 30 second promo.

I was across the river shooting the Sony EX3 nestled on a sand bag, a poor man's high-hat, between the river and the reeds, pushed in on a long lens to crush the depth of field. 

"Ready on the line Jake?"

Right then, a small-mouth bass strikes the end of Jake's line, he hauls it in, the real thing, live, as if we had a PA underwater, holding his or her breath, ready to hook on a prop fish!  

"Say the line!", we shout.

He struggles to reel it in;

"It's a fish! I caught a real fish!" 

"Yeah, yeah, we can see that. Say the line!"

And he did, he nailed it. That's 'creative non-fiction.

Same shoot, later that day. We want a shot of John Leinenkugel paddling the canoe, delivering a few lines - it is, after all, a 30 second spot for 'Canoe for a Cause.' The wind was up, blowing maybe 10 knots; too much chop for a steady shot and our light is fading fast.

Across the lake, the water is glass-calm in the shelter of the opposite shore. 

"Take you 45 minutes to paddle across", someone  says, probably Ted, or producer Cannon Kinnard, who were worried about the camera going over the side.

John and I look at the distance, then at each other ... a determined look.

"We can make it in five."

Bets made, the camera is in a plastic bag.

"Better double bag that..."

With John at the helm and me in the stern, Jacobson Rost producer/audio technician, Mark A DiPietro mans the bailer and cradles the gear in the belly of our craft.

John and I both grew up in Wisconsin around canoes and we took to it this time, like ducks to water. Pointing the nose into the wind, we carve our way across the lake in five minutes, and still with enough light to run the lines to our hearts' content.

Working with these guys is a real treat; rare and wonderful, the whole lot, a 'Band of Brothers.' On the first shoot I did in Chippewa Falls, Jake Leinenkugel is watching us set up 'round the bar. He calls out to the crew; this is before we knew him real well,

"Which one of you is the ass-hole? In every group like this," he grins, "there's gotta be an ass-hole."

The crew gleefully points at me in unison. Jake nodded in approval, and later he started calling me, Gunny.

We remind him, he says, of a group of guys he knew while serving our Country in the Marines. One guy there, they nick-named 'Gunny.'

"A real ass-hole, but he always got the job done. We really loved that guy."

So yeah, you can call me, Gunny

PS Gunny says thanks for the beer, Jake and John :)

written by: Edward Seaton