BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Zosia Mamet And Evan Jonigkeit: 'The Product Is Secondary To The Storytelling'

Following
This article is more than 7 years old.

The fiction is that the brightest young Hollywood stars are resolutely against selling direct to consumers. Or that advertising isn't a showcase for artists and intellectuals. Just how out-of-date those ideas are was made clear at the start of a special afternoon talk with Zosia Mamet and Evan Jonigkeit at the FORBES 30 Under 30 Summit in Tel Aviv.

To Jonigkeit, of "X-Men" fame, storytelling is "deep-seated" in the psyche. "It doesn't seem too far fetched" to connect stories to products, he said. "All businesses want to tell their potential consumers a story." Both Mamet and Jonigkeit have tilted their careers toward a hybrid model of acting that veers between both traditional movie-making and working directly with brands.

There are two good reasons why: audiences are more sophisticated and there's huge opportunity in new digital distribution models. " Netflix and Hulu present you with exactly what you want and [what you're] looking for," said Jonigkeit. "Advertising is catching up with that and is finding new and different ways to engage viewers. Audiences aren't given credit they're due and it's the same with consumers: They don't need to be spoon-fed anymore."

Mamet, best known for her role on "Girls," is the face of an experimental Kate Spade ad campaign that "encapsulates the brand's essence," she says. In a series of short films, Mamet plays a woman who is "quirky, kooky and is just being herself." Much of it is improvised, where she's says she given a script but told to "just be yourself."

And it's moving merchandise. "It's so random. I had to pick out a pair of sunglasses and chose one because they're cool." Turns out, she says, all the featured merchandise in the shoot, including the sunglasses, are selling out. "They're the ones they want to buy. It's using a creative way to sell something that's more enticing than just making ads (print, TV, etc.) that show this beautiful girl carrying a bag, saying, 'You should buy it.' People want to be told stories that they can connect to. The product is secondary to the storytelling."

The two stars have very different backstories yet come together on this notion of a "gentle, more creative and interesting way to try to sell you something," in Jonigkeit's words. Mamet comes from a long line of artists and high-profile figures in entertainment, including her father, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter David Mamet. "My earliest memories are of movie sets or the back of theaters," she said. "My whole life was about telling stories. Who's the wittiest in the room? That was what life was about."

"Very suburban," is how Jonigkeit describes his upbringing. "Dad sold insurance and was very business-minded. I watched storytelling as a pure consumer. I was looking from that outside." But Mamet couldn't help but add, "My dad would say that Evan's dad was one of best story tellers: his paycheck came from selling this product."

The pair, a romantic couple, are costars of the 11-minute short, "Mildred and the Dying Parlor" (executive produced by Jonigkeit), also costarring Steve Buscemi and Jane Krawkowski, opening on April 15 at the Tribeca Film Festival. It is one of a series of 10 reimaginings of fairy tales in the modern world.

How will they get the word out? By looking for nontraditional distribution routes that pair up with companies "because we personify their brand.”