Laughlin Constable EVP Vincent Geraghty Plays Five Questions with SCREEN

What do Tiger Woods, Rice Krispies and MTV’s The Real World have in common? They’re all right here as global agency veteran Vincent Geraghty stopped by for a thoroughly entertaining round of Five Questions with SCREEN. Chicago- and Milwaukee-based agency Laughlin Constable recently welcomed Vincent as their new EVP, Head of Production & HIVE Content Studio, overseeing the agency’s full integrated suite of production and content offerings. Let’s get to it!

SCREEN: Thanks for stopping by, Vincent! So you’ve been chosen for the new season of Shark Tank. What are you pitching to the Sharks?

VINCENT: A Vintage Car and Motorcycle Cafe. Part hangout, part Euro coffee and pastry shop, with enough vintage car/motorcycle resale to keep the money coming in.

SCREEN: We love that idea! Now Vincent, if you could be a contestant on any reality TV show in TV history, what would it be? 

VINCENT: The Real World, New York or San Francisco. Although often contrived, the first few seasons felt groundbreaking. Plus, it looked like a lot of people my age with far more time on their hands than I had – I was jealous. 

Ok let’s leap back to 1992 and enjoy some highlights from the very first season of The Real World…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owEjbZF8m8Y

SCREEN: One restaurant, one meal, anywhere you want, and we’re buying. What will it be?

VINCENT: Cafe Lula in Logan Square. Pretty much anything on the menu – it has been a staple of the neighborhood for many years and only continues to get better.

SCREEN: Your favorite project you’ve ever worked on?

VINCENT: “Yellowstone, Inheritance Pass” from Havas in 2022 is up there as a favorite production.

But the one that sticks out as my favorite project is one from my early days with Leo Burnett. I was assigned to a Rice Krispies Treats project with a challenging budget and two super talented creatives Lisa Leone and Desmond LaVelle. The concepts showed alternative uses for Rice Krispie Treats (they float, they’re sticky…). I read the three scripts and met with Lisa and Desmond and immediately felt like we could do something memorable beyond just making a good ad. Jim Tozzi directed the spots thru then M80 productions and John Dingfield at Cutters edited. It was like being in an art collective with a fully supportive client backing our creativity. When the Leo Burnett leadership saw the finished ads, they didn’t know if they wanted to hug or fire us (one leader definitely wanted to fire us). I have had the opportunity to produce some big, award-winning projects, and there are a lot that I have fond memories of, but the Rice Krispie ads stick out (no pun intended) for their fun and pure creative approach.

Let’s take a look at this fave sweet spot of Vincent’s…

https://youtu.be/Cu6R3rv-sU0?feature=shared

SCREEN: Most famous person you’ve ever met?

VINCENT: Probably working with Tiger Woods on Buick back at his career peak. Incredibly nice guy, who didn’t mind me asking dumb questions about golf.  At the time, golfers were still wearing metal spikes. I asked Tiger, why he wore long metal spikes?  He politely responded “I kind of go after it off the tee!”

Speaking of going after it, here is a mashup of Tiger’s best shots ever…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpiwDQEwns

BONUS QUESTIONS!

SCREEN: Summer is here so we have to ask… what was your Best Summer Vacation Ever?

VINCENT: Right after graduating college, a 6-week Eurorail pass and a cheap airline ticket to Brussels on Sabena (Belgian Airline no longer in existence, Sabena stood for Such A Bad Experience Never Again). Sabena went on strike about an hour before we landed. We had to get our bags from a pile of luggage and our connecting flight to Paris was canceled. I don’t think we cared that much, nobody seemed to. It felt like it might have happened a lot. I went with my girlfriend, now wife of 30 years. We had zero plans and almost as much money, but it was just an amazing trip.

SCREEN: If you could be a part of one band or musical group in history, what would it be?

VINCENT: The Velvet Underground. Because of their influence on so much of the punk, new wave and college radio music I’ve listened to most of my life. Lou Reeds lyrics and stories seem semi sedate now, but were avant-garde in the 60’s. And an opportunity to be in the room with Andy Warhol and the Factory scene at the time would have been amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onTfEZAMZHI

SCREEN: Best advice you’ve ever been given?

VINCENT: “Go back to sleep.”

After waking up in the middle of the night worried about an overage on a production and needing advice, I called my dad. He asked, “How much is the budget?” I said, “with talent 1.5m.” He asked, “how much is the overage?” I said, “5 thousand dollars.” He said, “go back to sleep.” I still care a great deal about cost overruns but sometimes over-caring about comparatively small costs sacrifice opportunities to make something go from good to great.

SCREEN: What are you looking forward to over the rest of 2024?

VINCENT: Continuing to build on the success and momentum at Laughlin Constable and with our HIVE Content Studio. We have had some great new business wins as an agency and HIVE is putting out some awesome content for our clients. It’s a privilege to be part of the production innovations and scale we are developing – focused on craft and creativity.

Thanks for playing! For more from Vincent and his team at Laughlin Constable, click right here.

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