Commercials
A 30 second spot is an eternity for an editor; a show can drag after only one second. Material needs to feel genuine and persuasive, and sometimes even be funny before the logo reveal. Ten years in direct response, back when the test was whether the phone rang, gave me more than 20,000 hours in DR alone.
When the audience called to order
I learned commercials where the grade came back as a number. Inside Lieberman's direct response agency, on PROACTIV, Cindy Crawford and Sheer Cover, a spot was finished when the phone rang. Hundreds of graphics per show, each one tracked, each one there because it sold.
On KQED Live the brief was comedy that still lands a call to action, with every stakeholder's note met, and the first pass got belly laughs in the room. On Zenni's Bulls campaign it was a motion graphics spot for an NBA partnership, built on a budget that had no room for a second build, delivered early.
If every second in a spot is working, it will not feel long. That is the whole job, of premiere importance, and I love it.