ComingSoon spoke with Vincent Peone, an Emmy Award-winning commercial director, as well as a six-time Webby, Telly, Clio, and ProMax winner.
A founding member of CollegeHumor Originals, Vincent pioneered early internet comedy while he wrote, directed, produced, and shot countless vignettes with combined viewership in the tens of billions. He went on to direct episodes of TruTV’s Adam Ruins Everything, which began as a CollegeHumor series.
To complement a colorful career of breaking the internet, Vincent works closely with movie studios to create custom content for releases such as Terminator: Dark Fate, Spiderman: Far From Home, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, Equalizer 2, The Post, and many more. Remember when Zoolander crashed the runway? This guy!
A true creator of the modern age, Vincent was integral in the piloting of 2 Chainz’s Most Expensivest Shit, Vogue’s 73 Questions, and Ryan Reynolds’ original Snapchat series, Ryan Doesn’t Know.
ComingSoon: What led you to become a director?
Vincent Peone: I’m one of those lucky people who always knew what they wanted to be when they grew up. But I have too many allergies to be a park ranger, so I decided to pick up directing.
What was it about this ad for Peacock’s new Show Bel-Air that made you want to work on it?
Westbrook came to me and said they wanted to find a fun and playful way to pass the baton to the next generation. I grew up a massive fan of the original show, so the idea of meeting Will Smith, remixing the iconic theme song, and getting to interact with fans all over the world was nothing short of a dream come true. It didn’t hurt that it was set to air during the Super Bowl to kick off the first episode of Bel-Air either.
What was the most challenging aspect of creating this piece and how did you overcome that?
The hardest part was selecting who would make the final cut. Fans of the franchise are the most creative people in the world and the response truly blew me away. We received hundreds of submissions and I wish I could have included them all.
Do you have any fun, behind-the-scenes stories about the making of this commercial?
The hardest secret I’ve ever kept was having Will rap the Fresh Prince theme on my phone for two weeks while I directed the fans that fill out the rest of the piece.
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What were some of the things you learned from the Will Smith Bel-Air ad that you’re excited to apply to future endeavors?
Sometimes it’s okay to meet your heroes. Will is every bit the legend you expect. He even invited us to some lunch at his house after we wrapped.
Do you have any other projects coming up that you can share with us?
The thing I love about our company ArtClass is that you never know what the next day will bring. One day we’re making a feature, the next day a Super Bowl ad. I wholeheartedly believe that variety is the key to longevity in this business.
