America is a nation of immigrants. And a nation with a long-held promise that everyone is free to become whatever they want in life. They are free to make life as big as they can. However, most first-generation immigrants never have the means to leave the city that they have immigrated to and spend their whole lives working hard to make a better life for their families and future generations. It is their hard work and sacrifice that gives future generations opportunities that they themselves never enjoyed. The song “America” by Simon and Garfunkel was recorded in 1968, another seminal time period in American history. The lyrics tell the story of a young couple who sets out to search for America in both a literal and figurative sense.

This was an ambitious project that spanned a 28-day cross-country road trip through eight states to create a campaign of eight commercials. It took a deft hand to balance a cast of seven, countless locations and company moves, all the while maintaining the flexibility to develop a story arc inspired by the journey and America itself. For example, we hadn’t envisioned recording dialogue and had planned on letting Simon & Garfunkel’s song “America” carry the story, but the director started recording dialogue as we made our way West and it became the thread of the narrative.

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