May 13th, 2002

Scotts Valley, CA - Though it was frosty and overcast outside, you¹d never know if from watching the "stars" in bathing suits, shorts and sunglasses in the new West Marine 2002 television commercial campaign. From ski boats to sail boats to cabin cruisers to fishing boats, the series of spots show how West Marine makes boating more fun.

Produced by Scotts Valley-based Tam Communications, the commercials were filmed at the Santa Cruz Harbor and a local residence and starred West Marine employees. They also featured West Marine spokesman and host of the cable series Ship Shape, John Graviskis. All shooting was outdoors, which presented challenges since morning call times were chilly as temperatures dipped into the 40s (it even snowed the day before the shoot).

"The crew and talent were great throughout the shoot," says Jacqui Buchanan, producer, "They had high spirits and worked diligently in spite of the cold weather."

The scenes included a young couple repairing and then sailing off in their sail boat, a group of friends preparing to go water skiing, a senior duo cruising on their cabin cruiser, and a granddaughter and grandfather on their fishing boat. All spots feature the wide variety of boating supplies and wardrobe available from West Marine.

Since West Marine retail stores are located nationwide, it was important to give the spots a national feel. To accomplish that, Tam O'Connor Fraser, Director/Cameraman, shot the commercials on 35 mm.

"Shooting on video gives the viewer the sense that the spot is for a local business," says O'Connor Fraser, "Shooting on film immediately delivers a national feel and also increases the overall emotion of the piece."

Vince Allen, Senior Director of Marketing at West Marine, commented, "From start to finish, it's difficult for me to imagine how it could possibly have gone much more smoothly. And the end result, the finished spots, are just fantastic! You really hit the nail on the head with your execution, and significantly improved the final product from the vision I had in my mind's eye when we started."

A total of 63 commercials have now been completed from the four shells. The spots were edited in Tam's Scotts Valley post-production facilities and are airing on Speed, TNN, CNN, ESPN, ESPN2, The Weather Channel and OLN.

Credits:
Executive Producer - Susan O'Connor Fraser
Producer - Jacqui Buchanan
Associate Producer - Kristina Baker
Director/Cameraman - Tam O'Connor Fraser
Editor - Tam O'Connor Fraser
Online Editor - Ed Cook
Asst. Camera/35mm - Joe Ward
Second Asst. Camera - Audrey Kim
Lighting Director - Jan Sluchak
Grip - Patrick Roth
Gaffer - Sheila Greene
Make-up/Stylist - Gretchen Davis
Teacher - Bonnie Katz
Audio Operator - John Barrett
Production Asst. - Golareh Doust
Film Transfer - Monaco Labs
Colorist - John Carlson
Music Composer - Pat Mosca

Tam Communications is a leading digital media company, servicing corporate and entertainment clients by combining technical, creative, and communications expertise in the realms of video, interactive multimedia, and web. The company's expanding spectrum of original entertainment programming—developed for broadcast, cable, syndication, and other venues—airs worldwide. Tam Communications is a privately held company located in Scotts Valley, CA. Please visit our web site at www.tamcom.com.