Leo Burnett Hosts "This Is Your Life" Breakfast
Every year the creative bunch at Leo Burnett hold an employee break-fast meeting with an original theme, and with the help of Chicago Scenic this year was no exception. Leo Bur-nett Creative Chris Rossiter decided that this year he would poll the em-ployees for ideas and video tape their answers, and with the help of CSSI’s Head Designer Tom Ryan, they worked together to create a set design incorpor-ating some of the collected ideas.

CSSI provided scenic elements for the show that took place at the Chicago Theatre. Going with a simpler design, the set was comprised of a backwall, steps across the front of the stage, two DJ stands, and two large projection screens. Gary Heitz once again served as the project manager and Tim Steimle was the job lead.

To make the set a Leo Burnett authentic, Rossiter put new employee and graffiti artist Matt Orser to work on paint duty for the set’s backwall. Orser came to the CSSI shop after the wall was constructed and painted it with his distinct style. For scenic effect during the show, CSSI added a black scrim between Orser and the audience so they could get a sneak peak at him adding the finishing touches while the onstage DJs spinned records. Leo Burnett employees were delighted when the scrim revealed the “This is Your Breakfast” theme spray painted all over the wall.

The projection screens were used to show Leo Burnett commercialsmade within the year. Typically, their domestic and international commercials are shown back-to-back and last up to 30 minutes, but this year they were shown in smaller sections and interspersed with original skits based on employees’ polled suggestions. The audience roared with laughter while watching fellow employees lip-sync to Annie songs, or get escorted onstage by fully costumed Disney mascots, all spotlighted on the two huge projection screens.
The front stage stairs were installed for another special skit. At one point during the show, the entire Mount Prospect High School marching band and flag corps stormed the stage and entertained the audience with an enthusiastic musical performance, bringing to life another employee’s suggestion.

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