Come On To Me (Team Fred)

About

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 Fred)” was the first one to be released.

From paulmccartney.com, October 10, 2018:

Today Paul unveils a new music video for his track ‘Come On To Me’. The video, directed by TG Herrington, follows security guard Fred “Little Freddie” Maxwell as he hijacks the in-store sound system — always a highlight of his evenings. 

“LITTLE FREDDIE”:
Want to learn more about “Little Freddie”? (Hey, he may not be so little, but you’d never know it from his moves!) Freddie’s energy is contagious and you can’t spend more than a few minutes in his company without falling for his vibrant, happy and full of life character. Freddie works nights as a security guard at a luxury department store to pay for his college tuition. He agrees it’s pretty monotonous work, making the rounds and checking doors, but the solitude gives him plenty of time to study as he knows in the end it’ll pay off. 

But Freddie isn’t an “all work, no play” kind of guy… Freddie is still Freddie, and Freddie’s going to have fun — no matter what!

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, October 17, 2018:

If you follow the 610 Stompers, the star of an amusing new Paul McCartney music video may look familiar. […] Until the concluding scene, Marina is the only person in the clip, which was shot mostly at Rubensteins, the high-end men’s clothing store at the corner of Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue.

His epic performance, informed by his Carnival season street dancing with the Stompers, is meant to inspire “amusement or bewilderment,” he noted recently. “One of the two.”

For Marina to get his big break, a random set of dominoes had to fall in place, starting with a cruise ship lip-syncing competition. He rocked Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” in a blonde wig, leather vest and shiny orange and silver pants. His aunt recorded his performance and posted it to Facebook. Weeks later, Marina received an email from a woman named Lindsay, who’d seen the Facebook post. Would he like to be in a music video? Sure.

He initially assumed the video was some sort of student production. When told it was for a Paul McCartney song, he still didn’t believe it was a “real” McCartney video. “Why is a former Beatle finding random people on Facebook?” Marina said. “Our worlds don’t match up.”

Lindsay, it turned out, was Lindsay Stillman, a production manager working with director T.G. Herrington. The New Orleans-based Herrington’s extensive credits in commercials, TV and movies include a 2009 short film about local vegetable vendor Mr. Okra, as well as “A Tuba to Cuba,” the new documentary chronicling the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s pilgrimage to Cuba. Herrington knows McCartney’s manager, Scott Rodger, who is also based in New Orleans (until 2017, Rodger managed Arcade Fire, whose principals live here). After discussing the “Come On To Me” video concept with Rodger, Herrington submitted a treatment, and landed the directing job. He envisioned three people working the night shift who, thinking they are alone, let loose to “Come On To Me.” The twist is that someone sees them and, after an awkward moment, joins in.

Determined to shoot entirely in New Orleans with a local cast and crew, Herrington sought “real people,” not professional actors or dancers, to make the performances more authentic. Being well-acquainted with Mardi Gras dance troupes – his wife, Nicelle, the video’s producer, is a retired member of the Sirens organization – he figured he’d find at least one lead character among them: “I knew we couldn’t go wrong with the 610 Stompers.”

Nicelle Herrington scouted various dance troupes and had Stillman look up individual Stompers on Facebook. Marina’s cruise ship lip-sync video stood out; he got called in for an audition. Marina arrived wearing eyeglasses, as he normally does. T.G. Herrington asked him to take off the glasses – and realized he’d found his man.

“I knew from the second he stepped in for the audition that he was the one,” Herrington said. “His face radiated awesomeness. He’s a pro, but not a pro. Mike is short and stout, but he moves so fluidly, like water. That dude can wiggle. That wiggle and that smile got him the job.”

By day, Marina, 28, works for the New Orleans Public Library. A classically trained chef with a degree in culinary arts, he also operates his own private catering business, specializing in romantic dinners (“I’m like a food genie – your wish is my command”). […] To prepare for the McCartney shoot, Marina immersed himself in “Come On To Me,” playing it constantly in his car, memorizing the lyrics.

Filming was scheduled for the night of Sept. 13, after Rubensteins closed. Herrington assumed downtown would be deserted, in keeping with the feeling of isolation he wanted for the video. But unbeknownst to the director, that was the night of the Beyonce and Jay-Z concert at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Afterward, Canal Street was teeming with pedestrians and cars. “People were everywhere,” Herrington said. “At 5 a.m., we still had to contend with people popping by.”

He didn’t hire a choreographer, preferring to let Marina and the other dancers concoct their own moves. “It had to come from them,” Herrington said. “It may not be perfect, but it will be powerful.”

For 10-plus hours, Marina heaved his “fluffy self” into the task, hamming it up for the cameras, sustaining his energy with granola bars, water and coffee. The 610 Stompers influence is evident: In the video, he’s constantly marching in place, because he’s accustomed to dancing while walking with the Stompers.

The final scene in a “storefront” window was shot at the Saint Hotel on Canal Street. A guy walking his dog comes across Marina dancing in the window display. The dog-walker is played by Gus Anderson, cast from Herrington’s directory of interesting characters he meets in New Orleans. […]

What did McCartney think of Marina’s performance? “He went nuts over it,” Herrington said. “It’s hard not to. It’s pure magic on screen. It’s not trying to be cool. It’s not over-thought. It’s just 100 percent joyful. It makes you want to get up and shake your ass, all because of the main character, and the track. Paul was blown away by all the performances. He loved the uniqueness that each brought to the table.”

Marina has yet to meet McCartney. But he wouldn’t mind dancing onstage to “Come On To Me” when McCartney comes to the Smoothie King Center in May. “I would love to be a part of something like that,” Marina said. Until then, “I have my hands up, and I’m riding the roller coaster. It’s been a fun ride so far.”

Last updated on March 24, 2021