Sheldon Cohn
Award winning Sr VP, Doner Advertising Agency
Sheldon's interest in producing television commercials began at age 13 when he got a fancy movie camera for his Bar Mitzvah. Throughout high school and college he made movies. He attended the University of Michigan majoring in radio, television and film, and won several awards for his films and production abilities.
His first and only full-time job as a producer began in October of 1978 at Doner.
What attracted him to Doner was its great creative team. Not long after he started, he found himself able to make creative contributions as well as technical ones. Sheldon analyzed each spot: "Is there anything I could do to make the spot better?" Just because a script is written, storyboard completed and approved, doesn't mean it's over. To Sheldon there are still a million choices to be made. "Music, actors, editing, sound effects, camera angles, etc . . . can it be funnier? More dramatic? Is there a better line? A more descriptive location?"
This process only ends when the commercial is finally aired, and even then there are things he would have done differently but time or the budget didn't allow it. Sheldon believes, "As long as the advertiser is going to interrupt someone, which is what commercials do, they might as well make that interruption as technically and creatively proficient and enjoyable as possible."
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