"Texting Hat"
The latest in multitasking fashionable wear, bringing eye contact back to the 21st Century.
Director / Writer: Bradley Hasse
Production Company: Mister :-| Face, Bradonio Productions (Co Production)
Executive Producers: Mary Crosse, Bradley Hasse
Director of Photography: Evan Jake Cohen
Starring: Rich Hollman, Ilana Becker
Producer: Michelle Trilling
1st AC: Andy Whitlatch
Sound Mixer: Marc Hoppe
Gaffer: Tom Chaves
Key Grip: Mike Keane
Hair & Makeup: Wenya Chang
Casting: Sidecar Casting
Casting Director: Anthony Pichette
Production Assistants: Aaron Kodz, Frida Regaza, Lindsey Camuso, Jemaray Pyatt
Editor: Bradley Hasse
Assistant Editor: Matt McGee
Color Correction: Company 3
Color Correction Producer: Katie Andrews
Colorist: Jaime O’Bradovich
Sound Design & Mix: Sound Lounge
Sound Producer: Mike Gullo
Sound Designer & Mixer: Justin Kooy
Logo Design: Joshua Levi
Music Supervisor: Dan Gross
Music: “Walk With Me” by RJD2, Courtesy of RJ’s Electrical Connections
Get the track on iTunes: apple.co/1GDYDyb
Additional Cast
Elevator Girl: Julie Lubeck
Pedestrian: Bradley Hasse
Bar Patrons: Violette de Bartillat, Alexandra Buffet, Lorenzo Fanton, Doreen Hasse, Ben Lindell, Johnnie Mata, Jr., Guy Oldfield, Garrett Philbin, Jennifer Poole, Jemaray Pyatt
Special Thanks: Anne de Bartillat, Hand Held Films, Locanda Mariella Restaurant
Texting Hat™ is a conceptual project created by Bradley Hasse
IT'S REAL!
Once this short was released, featuring what was a fake product, the video started getting featured on the homepages of sites like Laughing Squid, Design Taxi, MTV, and Fast Company. From there, cable shows around the globe from Canada to Korea to Australia started to feature the short, and sometimes just the product itself. "The Living Room," a weekly variety show that has a segment where they feature new product ideas, reached out to me and asked how much I was selling the hats for, and if they could get a few for their hosts.
"Uhm, sure... the hats cost 20... er 25 bucks... and yes we'll get a few of those sent out to your team right away."
And all of a sudden I was the owner of a hat business.
The hats used in the short were all homemade props, so I had to figure out how to make these for real, get a shopping cart up and running on the website, and get some custom made Texting Hats shipped out to my very first customers out in Australia. Here's the segment:
A website was built (it’s no longer online) for people interesting in “emitting or receiving eye contact.” For those who wished to emit eye contact, purchasing a hat with an image of their own face was the best option. For those who wanted to receive eye contact, using the image of a friend's face worked the most efficiently.
And that's my Texting Hat story.
PRESS LINKS
"Right This Minute" (USA)
PS - Hasse is pronounced "Hoss-ee" :)
The Huffington Post (Germany)
SBS (South Korea)