R.A.P. Interview: Earl Pilkington, West Coast Radio, Mandurah, Western Australia
Earl Pilkington started getting paid for writing commercial copy when he was 11 years old. He’s still getting paid for his commercial scripts 35 years later, and did much more in the years between, including television, film, newspaper and radio. He’s currently the Creative Copywriter at West Coast Radio in Australia, cranking out the copy for an AM/FM combo in Mandurah – Coast FM & 6MM. He has contributed several articles to RAP in the past year and most recently uploaded over 100 of his more recent scripts to RAP’s new Copy Bank for all to use. This is a special kind of guy nestled away in the town of Mandurah in a rather isolated part of the world in Western Australia, and it was time to find out a little bit more about him.
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Q It Up: What’s your favorite piece of work that, for one reason or another, never aired?
The Q It Up panel responds to this Q: What’s your favorite piece of work that, for one reason or another, never aired? Whether it’s a killer spot or promo that got rejected, a comedy bit too raw to air, a back-room promo meant only for internal ears, or a campaign that got canceled due to tragic circumstances (i.e., concert promo for Prince)... what are you especially proud of that just didn’t make the cut, and what’s the story behind it? And if you still have the audio, send it with your reply! We’ll post on the Soundstage!
Production 512: The Dave Foxx World Tour
by Dave Foxx
September 28 and 29 I was in Miami for the ReelMIX 2016 conference. The following Monday and Tuesday it was Haarlem (about 20 km outside of Amsterdam) for The Imaging Days 2016. So, what did I learn on this trip?
Radio And Production Adds New Copy Bank
By Jerry Vigil
It was a long time coming, but it’s here! Last year, in the Commercials group in the online RAP Community, Earl Pilkington posted a question looking for suggestions on where he might be able to park a bunch of scripts he had written to share with others. I jumped at the chance to add them to the R.A.P. website, and we’re happy to announce its debut.
From Businessman to President - (It’s Not Who You Think)
by Tim Burt
This past June, I received an email into in one of my accounts, which is notorious for getting spam. The headline read “Hello Sir.” Fully expecting to read that Prince/King/Queen (insert name) was going to send me an obscene amount of money, I almost deleted the email. Almost. After all, the first line reads “My name is (we’ll call him “Eric”) from Ghana.” After quickly glancing the first few lines of the email, Eric mentioned, “I have watched your videos on YouTube,” “need help with advertising,”...
"...And Make It Real Creative!": Unwrapping a Forgotten Gift
by Trent Rentsch
“Oh, this can’t be good,” I thought, as I saw the GM making a beeline to the Production Room. Over two decades ago, and I can still remember his face. It wasn’t a look you wanted aimed at you, but it seemed unavoidable at that moment. It felt like that second between ramming your little toe into a table leg and waiting for the pain that will leave you in a hopping, hot mess… you know it’s coming, no damned way out.
Radio Hed: Imaginary People – Truthful Commercial Stories
by Jeffrey Hedquist
We all resonate with stories, so making your client’s commercials into stories is a powerful way to get results. Potential customers have a protective wall up. Telling stories about them is a way to break through that wall. Listeners are more sensitive to hype than ever before, so telling the truth works. You can tell a story that’s not factual, but is truthful.
The R.A.P. Soundstage
We’re devoting this month’s Soundstage to the submissions that went along with the responses to this month’s Q It Up question, “What’s your favorite piece of work that, for one reason or another, never aired?” Be sure to read the stories behind the pieces starting on page 9, then listen! We’ve put these in the same order as the responses appeared in the column. And hats off to Eric Rublcava for getting this month’s nod for the Editor’s Choice Award!