What It Took to Capture The Cleaning Lady Season 4 Antihero with Rob Kandefer

Thank you. We are honored to be recognized. We are the entertainment advertising agency Truest. My name is Rob Kandefer, and I’m the owner and creative director. It’s been a long journey—I’ve been in this industry since my teen years, starting out by winning scholarship money and awards from Sony and Disney competitions. My team and I are passionate about delivering high-quality creative work for streaming, film, and more.

We all felt this was an impactful and captivating image, beautifully shot and composed, that succinctly conveyed the essence of the show. Our client believed in this image from the initial round and was happy with the final results.

We were confident it was a great piece to enter into competitions to showcase what we’re all about. Winning like this is one of the many ways we demonstrate our passion and commitment to our work and service to our clients.

Several factors aligned to make this campaign impactful. Our client had a decisive vision and did a great job facilitating a phenomenal photoshoot with Robert Ascroft. Our sketch concepts were shot beautifully, providing us with strong imagery to build from. The lead actress is also very striking and photogenic, portraying a complex yet relatable character.

We were all willing to take a risk by showing a darkly lit, mostly desaturated image that included blood — all elements somewhat uncommon for a network show ad.

We’re happy to accept this award. As a small agency, we enter these competitions primarily to honor our clients’ vision and their trust in us, to recognize our team members’ continual efforts, and to gain visibility within our field. It’s really important in this industry to make waves and stay part of the conversation.

I’d say, for younger talent starting out on their journey: always keep honing your craft and develop a healthy relationship with criticism.

Also, observation is a superpower and definitely a game changer. If you’re an art director, don’t silo yourself—observe how the account execs conduct themselves on calls, notice how the retouchers structure their files, watch how your creative director pitches, and spend time with production to see what happens after the files leave your hands. Pay attention to patterns in what clients choose as final art. Go to lunch with someone outside your department and get to know how they work.

All of this will foster better working relationships, produce stronger work, and open many doors.

The rate of technological and social change in recent years is staggering, and it’s only going to accelerate from here. All of this directly and rapidly impacts our field.

We’re pushing ourselves to learn, adapt, and explore different business models for the agency. We won’t stray from handcrafting quality concepts and imagery for entertainment advertising, though the format and process may change. We currently have some exciting developments in the works.

It’s like the Mark Twain quote: “Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is.”

Now, in this post-pandemic, post-strikes, remote-heavy ecosystem, the community is feeling fractured, and I think it’s in the process of redefining itself. What we’ve been doing at Truest is leaning into Zoom hangouts with industry peers, in-person agency team outings at least once per month, and client lunches, hangouts, and dinners to stay connected.

We also actively connect, communicate, and offer pro tips and insights through our social media platforms. I think culture and connection are very important in this field. It’s a bit harder to maintain now than it used to be, but well worth the effort.

Thank you to our clients at Fox for your continued trust in us and for pushing the envelope with creative. Thanks to Robert Ascroft for the beautiful photography and for visiting us and meeting our team. Thank you to all of my team at Truest—I’m grateful to be creating at your side.

Check us out on Instagram at @truest1.creative or visit our website to see the latest.