The CW 7.2
writer | producer | editor
In 2016, I began working in the marketing department for KWWL, where my primary responsibility was to create content that promotes our CW channel, 7.2. After a change in ownership in 2021, we lost The CW to another station. But I had a lot of fun while it lasted, and I think Angela and I were able to give the channel a unique voice and make a lot of wild spots that don’t usually get aired in our market.
April Fools' Day (2021)
Was this just an excuse to put Angela in silly wigs? Maybe.
This is probably my favorite CW spot to-date, but unfortunately it didn’t make air due to its possible FCC violations.
Ghost Hunt (2020)
I love ghost hunting shows. One of my favorite projects I’ve ever worked on was a ghost hunt back in 2008.
Angela and I shot this the same day we shot the Fall in 2020 spot. The wide-shot was shot on my iPhone. Originally I only set up her profile shot as a way to capture her audio, but it ended up being nice to have something to cut to.
Fall in 2020 (2020)
This might have been the only time Angela and I shot in-person during 2020. I wanted something for my favorite season, but it was hard to get excited about apple cider donuts when the world was still on fire.
Angela in Quarantine (2020)
During the global pandemic, it became hard to meet up with Angela to create new spots. I started sending her ideas that she could shoot on her phone, ideally using as little dialogue as possible.
A lot of these were inspired by trends that were popular on TikTok.
Political Rad (2020)
If you watch television in Iowa during an election year, you know that the amount of political ads can get insufferable. So I wanted to make fun of that.
This ran from the Iowa Caucus all the way through the November election.
To inspire Angela’s wardrobe, I sent her pictures of Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Shelf Elf (2019)
This spot got Angela and I nominated for a Midwest Emmy.
Inspired by my daughter’s Elf on the Shelf, I’d always wanted to play with the fact that I usually shoot Angela on a greenscreen.
My daughter even makes a cameo in this commercial, shot on a day when she was home sick from school. Should she have been resting? Yes. But I had a deadline, so…
Gratitude List (2019)
Another one of my listicle promos, where the script is basically just a list of things that make me laugh.
I created the image behind Angela by combing four different stock photos and graphics.
Halloween PSA (2019)
The script for this spot came together at the last minute, but I think it turned out really well.
The pumpkin that Angela is holding is one I carved for a KWWL contest (2nd place) and the Charlie Brown motif was something I came up with in post.
But the best part was throwing a bunch of toilet paper in front of our green screen and figuring out how I was going to roll the CW 7.2 logo.
Quad Con 2019 (2019)
Another fun comic convention spot, I was struggling to come up with a theme for this commercial, but got inspired once I found Angela a Flash t-shirt.
The narration is a take on the opening voice over for The Flash, as well as the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
We Got That (2019)
Possibly my most ambitious spot, I wanted to shoot something with multiple people, in a variety of locations, representing the diverse programming on The CW 7.2.
Finally Summer! (2019)
The CW 7.2 summer spot was a lot of fun to shoot. While I had a script, I really didn’t have any shots in mind when Angela and I went out to the Cedar Valley Arboretum.
We just walked around for a bit, saw what we had to work with, and put together a fun spot.
RodCon 2019 (2019)
This was probably the spot I had the most fun making. Promoting a local comic book convention, I tried to get as many nerdy references in as I could in thirty seconds.
Heads up, the ending of this spot makes no sense if you’re one of the four people on the planet who hasn’t seen Avengers: Infinity War.
Roswell Launch Party (2019)
When Roswell, New Mexico premiered in the first quarter of 2019, we held an event at our local planetarium. We gave out alien-themed sugar cookies and official Roswell swag.
Happy Thanksgiving, CW 7.2! (2018)
This spot ran for the week leading up to Thanksgiving. I try to inject humor into all my spots for The CW 7.2, and my favorite way to do that is to deliver a punchline that subverts expectations.
Facebook for Fans (2018)
The first spot after Angela Billman (Amelia 2.0, The Last Minute Till Midnight) became the face of The CW 7.2.
This spot was created after Facebook abruptly deleted our previous page.
Steve Harvey Show Flow (2018)
This was a spot that aired during the last hour of primetime, right before Steve’s show began.
Pay attention to exactly when Steve realizes what he’s reading.
Follow The CW 7.2 on Twitter (2017)
This spot, mocking how few Twitter followers The CW 7.2 had, was nominated for a Midwest Emmy. I lost to the Minnesota Vikings.
Holiday Traditions (2017)
Created using stock footage, the idea was to either utilize the strangest holiday footage I could find, or pair traditional video with a humorous voice over.