Come On To Me (Team Ali)

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Three videos showing three different characters, working the night shift, dancing on the song “Come On To Me” were produced and released, and finally mixed together for a fourth version. “Come On To Me (Team Ali)” was the second one to be released.

From paulmccartney.com, October 12, 2018:

Earlier in the week you (and the rest of the world) fell in love with the moves of “Little Freddie” dancing to ‘Come On To Me’ during his night shift as a security guard. Today Paul unveils a second video for the track, so allow us to introduce Ali…

ALI ALMOHRI:
Ali, a first generation American, is a self-confessed “Momma’s boy” — but in a good way. Mrs and Mr Almohri came to the US as immigrants from Syria to build a new life and raise their three sons (our hero is the middle child). Sadly Ali is the only brother who’s single so he volunteers to do the night shift duty on the family’s food truck. But at 2am, when the world starts to slow down, Ali loves to crank up his boom-box and throw down. Thankfully for us, video director TG Herrington was on hand to film his moves.

Ali is hard-working, confident, joyful …and a hopeless romantic. His long-standing crush on a young woman who frequents the food truck often results in him flashing a smile that he hopes will say to her he’s looking for more than just casual conversation. Why’s that? Ali’s goal in life is to find a wife…

From SHOOTonline, October 23, 2018:

Paul McCartney’s “Come On To Me”–from his newly released album Egypt Station–celebrates that basic human need we all have for connection. Three music videos, directed and edited by TG Herrington, harness the track’s joyful exuberance and inspire audiences to get up and dance as part of the #COTMChallenge.

“Little Freddie,” “Ali” and “Elsa” were filmed in director Herrington’s home town of New Orleans, a place that lives large with compelling characters in a city known for its warm and wild embrace of both music and dance. Three people working the night shift celebrate the secret, hidden moments when you can let your guard down and move. Herrington and his wife, producer Nicelle Herrington, explored their vast network of the city’s unique denizens to find three people–no actors with no professional choreography–for three films with three teasers.

As a body of work these three stories weave together to give audiences a glimpse into what it means to be human, to connect to a piece of music and then be moved to lose ourselves in that brief magical moment. The culminating video unites the trio–alone, but together in spirit. It premiered on MTV, and across Paul McCartney’s social channels.

This hero piece–with all three protagonists–earned inclusion into SHOOT’s ScreenWork section. TG Herrington is currently seeking commercial representation as a director. He continues his editing collaboration via Cut+Run.

Credits

Creative: TG Herrington, concept/writer.
Production: Nom De Guerre Films; TG Herrington, director; Nicelle Herrington, producer; JP Summers, DP; Shelby Hunter/Lindsay Stillman, Han Soto, production managers.
Editorial: TG Herrington, Andrew Wallace editors. ColorKyoto
Color: Bradley Greer, colorist.
Audio Post: Sazerac Sound Billy Theriot, mixer.
Social/Digital: MPL Communications.
Management: Maverick Scott Rodger

From Modesto Bee (modbee.com), October 19, 2018:

[Nicelle] Herrington, an early-1990s grad of Davis High School, is the producer of the four videos, which were directed by her husband, TG Herrington. In the first three videos, night workers — a security guard, a food truck cook and a cleaning woman — dance like nobody’s watching as Sir Paul’s upbeat song provides the soundtrack. The fourth video is a mash-up of the first three.

McCartney did not want to be in the video for his song, Nicelle Herrington said, but wanted to work with new people to see what inspired him. TG Herrington, who with his wife owns New Orleans-based Nom de Guerre Films, pitched an initial concept for a single video.

But “filmmakers like a creative challenge, giving you something you don’t even know you want yet,” Nicelle Herrington said. So TG wrote “a treatment, of people on the night shift and what they do when no one’s watching. Paul loved it,” she said.

Within three or four days of the legendary Beatles, Wings and solo artist’s approval, Nom de Guerre Films was shooting. She and her husband are used to turning on a dime, Herrington said.

McCartney said they could film anywhere in the world, so the couple picked their home, New Orleans. Her husband was adamant about shooting at night, Herrington said. He wanted it desolate, “and there’s a real feeling that comes across at night … and we’re passionate about storytelling.”

As producer, Herrington’s role was to take her husband’s concept and execute it, including hiring all the crew. The bulk of filming was over two nights. The first night was primarily the security guard, filmed at the high-end men’s clothing store Rubensteins, according to The New Orleans Advocate. But none of the three original videos was fully shot in sequence.

Nom de Guerre’s business with McCartney wasn’t done in person, but the music icon was so happy with the work, Herrington said, that he flew the couple to his show in Austin, Texas, where they hung out backstage. […]

From nola.com:

One features local real estate investor and furniture maker Ali Alhermimi as a love-struck food truck vendor.

Last updated on March 24, 2021