Former students selected to create $15,000 production
Add movie star to Darla Moore’s credentials.
Dinobrite Productions — known best for its “Rock Out (With Your Gamecock Out)” video and appearances on Comedy Central — is wrapping up a three-minute action film, commissioned by USC for the $1 billion Carolina’s Promise capital campaign. The video will feature several cameos, including: Moore, S.C. Sen. Lindsey Graham, oil tycoon and Houston Texans owner Robert McNair and Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. Darius Rucker may be in the piece, but details haven’t been finalized. The short film will premier at the university’s black tie fundraising kickoff gala during Homecoming weekend.
“Our goal is to make the most exciting movie ever about the University of South Carolina,” said Joey Thompson, one of the company’s two founders. “At the end of the day, we just want to make USC look as good as possible.”
Previous encounters between USC and the duo make it somewhat surprising that USC chose Dinobrite for a $15,000 project set for viewing at one of the swankiest gatherings in university history. USC officials and Dinobrite sparred last year on the “Rock Out (With Your Gamecock Out)” video, which originally featured USC President Harris Pastides, baseball coach Ray Tanner and several pieces of university memorabilia. University officials were concerned with some suggestive lyrics and imagery; they eventually convinced the pair to remove all official references to the university.
University officials privately said they were impressed by the production value but couldn’t support the video for “professional reasons,” said co-founder Fabio Frey.
“We were impressed with their creative talent and the high level of production quality we saw in other video pieces they had done,” said Michelle Dodenhoff, USC’s vice president for development. “After meeting with them earlier this year when they were USC seniors, we knew they’d bring a fresh, creative eye to telling the promise of Carolina story via video.”
The video is in final stages, according to Dinobrite. Thompson and Frey recently visited Lake City and Houston, where the duo filmed footage in Moore’s expansive home botanical garden and saw a rare painting on the wall of McNair’s luxury box inside Reliant Stadium. One of the owner’s first comments was to quietly tell Frey his fly was down.
Thompson and Frey flew over the city in a helicopter this week to collect aerial footage, which will support the video’s theme of flying in from outer space and circling South Carolina. The video is due to USC officials within two weeks.
And for the pair?
They’re working inside USC’s Business Incubator Center, where they receive free office space for “up to two years.” Thompson and Frey have recently landed several projects for clients both in Columbia and Los Angeles. They’re hoping to complete other projects for the university, including a video for admissions.
“At the end of the day, we were students here and we do love our university,” Thompson said. “Even though there was controversy, this is our chance to really set all that aside.”