PRODUCTION NEWS
Product: Pre-Paid Legal Services
Objective: To develop an infomercial aimed at middle America to sell membership in this legal services plan.
Priced reasonably at $25/ month without a long-term contract, Pre-Paid Legal Services offers help with everyday
legal issues - like buying a home, dealing with traffic tickets, and signing contracts. The monthly fee includes
unlimited phone access to an attorney who will review documents, answer questions, advise on legal matters, draw
up a will, and more.
We faced interesting challenges in creating this show. Although pre-paid legal services have been around for years,
many Americans are unfamiliar with them. So we had a big educational task. We had to convey affordability, quality
of representation, ease of access…and that the services of a Pre-Paid attorney are a necessity in today's complicated
society.
Creative Approach: Our basic premise was that access to legal representation, which is outside the financial
reach of most middle Americans, should be thought of as a "right." Using the theme, "Equal Justice:
It's Your Right," we focused on how Pre-Paid Legal Services enables members to understand and obtain their
legal rights.
We developed a news magazine-style show using a reporter team; a host who identifies the problems Americans have
with lack of legal representation, and a reporter who investigates what Pre-Paid Legal Services offers. We shot
in a courthouse to set the legal tone we wanted and in the parks and streets of a small town to appeal to the appropriate
middle-class demographic audience.
The testimonials, however, are key to the believability of this show. All were Pre-Paid members who volunteered
to appear. We pre-screened them by telephone for their ability to communicate. This ensured that we got people
who not only had interesting stories about using the service for personal or small business use…but who could relate
their stories well. We got usable and powerful statements from every testimonial we asked to appear.
Finally, we developed a very strong call-to-action. It appears three times but we were unconcerned about repeating
it because of its effectiveness. In it, a spokeswoman speaking from a law office provides the most powerful argument
for signing up with Pre-Paid Legal Services…"It's your right."
Production Challenge: This show required a lot of logistical planning and organization. We did interior
and exterior shots in two different cities. We encountered traffic, weather, and merchant problems; choreographed
a lot of extras; and relocated crew and equipment several times each day to get all our shots. We used two cameras;
the first, a Steadicam to get the hand-held movements typical of a live reporter interview; the second, a small
digital camera to get B-roll footage usable for cutaways. We shot kids, bikes, wagons, fire trucks, police cars,
a tow truck, ambulance, families, a baseball game, and ice cream cones.
To communicate the pace of contemporary life and how quickly things can happen, we used a lot of movement. The
host, reporter, extras, legal experts, and Pre-Paid Legal Services attorneys were always active. This activity
was contrasted with the calmer presentation of the testimonials who had acquired the peace of mind that comes from
Pre-Paid Legal Services membership.
Since we believe that the finishing elements of graphics and music are important to the impact of an infomercial,
we paid special attention to their development. We created computer graphics worthy of a TV news program for the
show opening and titles, and finished the show with custom music.