'The Client' Returns in a New Ad From Teamwork.com. He's Sure to Give Agency Folks Nightmares

Why does he have to be so awful? WHYYYY?!

The Client’s back, and he’s more difficult to please than ever.

We first met the villainous character in last spring’s The Client: Part One, a brand-building video for project management software company Teamwork.com. Created by B2B marketing agency Umault, the movie-trailer parody portrays a nightmarish client who strikes terror into the hearts of advertising folks everywhere. He’s the type of client who makes endless “changes,” even though he approved everything just last week. *Shudders*

When Guy Bauer, the founder and creative director of Umault, developed that first ad, he thought it was a one-off. But the faux trailer enjoyed so much buzz that Teamwork.com decided to capitalize on its popularity with a follow-up.

Play

Here, Bauer talks about the making of The Client: Part Deux, which delves into how the eponymous Client—who once joined conference calls on time and was fully aware of “scope creep”—became the monster he is today.

Muse: There are so many great lines and moments in Part Deux. The writing process for this new ad—as well as the first one—must have been such fun.

Guy Bauer: I wrote both spots with the help of a couple of industry friends to lend some client horror stories.

The process for both started with a general beat sheet that we went back and forth on with Teamwork.com to establish the story structure. Then we fleshed out the dialogue from there.

The working relationship with Teamwork.com is really awesome in that we both listen to each other and are trying to make the most entertaining video possible.

Has it been cathartic to work on this project? I’m sure you must have dealt with a fair share of difficult clients over the years.

Oh, yeah! 95 percent of what’s in this spot is from real life. Obviously, we take it to the next level. But it’s all from real pain.

The lead actor is perfectly diabolical. Tell me how you worked with him to create this character.

The actor’s name is Christian Edwin Cook. And from the moment he first auditioned, we knew he was the perfect Client.

My direction was to play the part like an evil genius—like Rami Malek in No Time to Die or Paul Dano in The Batman. Christian took it from there and made it his own, including the raised eyebrow thing.

He also came up with the idea of the Client not having glasses in the flashback. If you watch closely, he takes the glasses off right before we start the flashback and puts them back on as we come back. That was all him.

And how about the actor who debuts in this new ad as Cheryl, his boss and mentor?

Her name is Heidi Drennan. I’ve worked with her on a few projects. I love evil characters who are nice on the surface—like Lalo Salamanca in Better Call Saul. Heidi never gets too overtly evil. She plays it perfectly pleasant, which is unsettling.

Fill me in on where and how you shot The Client: Part Deux. What did you need to capture to make this second ad really work?

Believe it or not, this was all shot in a day. We found a consumer research facility that had a two-way mirror for the opening and closing. And then we just made sets in their open areas.

Fun fact—for the room with the Client’s desk in the open office, we only had 4 desks—including his—to work with. So, we moved the desks and extras around to fill the frame in each shot.

We had a crew of nine.

The most important thing to get right was the performance of the Client and Cheryl. We’ve got a dodgy wig and dialogue that’s pretty out there—if the performances weren’t right, the whole thing would feel extremely corny.

Did the actors ad lib at all, or did they stick to the script?

For the most part, we have to stick to the script because time is of the essence. That being said, Christian will always add flourishes to his performances. So, I make sure not to yell “cut” too soon. For example, toward the end, when the focus group leader comes in and thanks the Client, he gives a nod like, “Of course what I said makes total sense for a focus group.” That was Christian’s idea.

Like the first one, this ad addresses something that we’re all aware of—the difficult client—in an honest and funny way. Can you talk about the advantages of Teamwork.com daring to broach this topic?

To me, the best brands are the ones that connect with their audience on a human and emotional level. There’s no one doing that in Teamwork.com’s market. All of their competitors look and sound the same and pretty much have the same functionality. It would just be adding to the white noise if we made a video with people smiling and pointing at Teamwork.com screens while V.O. drones on about, “Now you can manage projects!” Uh, I can do that with any software!

So, to me, we had to get daring in order to leave a mark. And with Teamwork.com’s brand promise being “profit from every client demand,” it seemed logical to focus on clients rather than smiley-happy project managers.

How’s the reaction to The Client: Part Deux?

Overwhelmingly positive. So far, my favorite comment was, “This one is better than the first!” Which alleviated my biggest fear about making a sequel.

Will there be a The Client: Part Trois?

That’s classified.

I have to ask: How is Teamwork.com as a client?

Honestly, they’re fantastic. I’ve been through two projects with Jenny Hayes, their brand lead, and she is a big reason why these spots have been successful. She gets creativity and has a great sense of humor. In fact, I think I acted more client-y on this project than anyone. I wanted to do a call while she was on vacation, and she obliged! I still feel bad for that one.