Professor & Jenkins Return for SafeCo Insurance

TBS’ agency The Sponsor Shop and Gifted Youth, the commercial production division of Funny or Die, once again take us into the lives of the snobbish action figure, Professor, and his trusty sidekick Jenkins for Safeco Insurance.

Professor and Jenkins first came about when The Sponsor Shop approached Gifted Youth and tasked them with creating an original comedy concept that could be deployed with multiple branded shorts on TBS.  Gifted Youth’s team of writers took the opportunity to come up with a pitch using recurring characters that would put their extensive dollhouse collection to use.  Thus, the bombastic Professor and his humble chimney-sweeping attendant Jenkins were born, making their onscreen debut with last year’s episodes sponsored by Dominos.  On the success of the concept, Gifted Youth EP Josh Martin says, “Lucky for us, because it was getting awkward explaining away all the miniature wallpaper swatches that litter our producer Alistair Walford’s desk.”

Director David Tindale helmed the most recent instalment sponsored by Safeco, in which the two figurines are where we last left them, in Professor’s pocket-sized mansion with the still-unappreciated Jenkins at his side.  At Jenkin’s suggestion to switch to Safeco for auto coverage, the fop begins thoughtlessly list off the endless insurance possibilities for all his hoity-toity toys, personal bullet train and sedan chair notwithstanding.

The dialogue between Professor and Jenkins, voiced by Upright Citizen Brigade veterans Joe Hartzler (Jenkins) and Joel Spence (Professor), was captured pre-shoot so that David Tindale could incorporate the many improvised lines the two of them came up with.  Gifted Youth once again partnered with frequent collaborators Therapy Studios for editorial, color grading and sound design, as well as Visual Creatures for motion graphics.  Without the visual cues of moving mouths, editor Kristin McCasey heightened the comedic effect of Professor and Jenkin’s exchange, captured ever so poignantly by Tindale’s artful staging and dramatic camera angles.