Oscar nominated director Ted Melfi is the mastermind behind Domino’s latest commercial. The Stranger Things themed commercial stars the show’s very own Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzo, with an appearance from Tyler Perry’s Ruthless star TJ Jackson.
Theodore Melfi is an award winning screenwriter, film director, and producer. Melfi co-wrote, directed, and produced the film “Hidden Figures” for which he received Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Melfi’s work as a writer, director, and producer includes the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics Choice and Oscar. As a writer and producer his credits include, The Starling, Going in Style, El Camino Christmas, American Dreamer and Corner Office. When it comes to the TV commercial space, Melfi has crafted spots for Toyota, Intel, Subaru, McDonald’s and FedEx, to name a few and recently won the AICP Award for Best Short Form Film for his Apple film (shot on iPhone), Daughter.
Recently Domino’s has been working on an easier experience to order a pizza on their app, which inspired them to tap into facial recognition and eye-tracking technology to make ordering your favorite pizza feel like mind controlling power , and knew Melfi was the perfect director who could bring memorable captivating Visuals to life.
To celebrate the fourth season of the Netflix hit Stranger Things, Domino’s brought in Caleb McLaughlin and Gaten Matarazzohas to experience the Strange idea of ordering pizza with your mind.
If the name Caleb Reginald McLaughlin rings a bell it’s because the American actor gained recognition for playing the role as Lucas Sinclair in the Netflix series Stranger Things. McLaughlin started his career on Broadway, as Young Simba in the musical The Lion King.
His on screen partner in crime Gaetano John Gaten Matarazzo made his screen acting debut in 2015 on an episode of The TV show Blacklist and went on to be cast as Dustin in Stranger Things, his breakthrough role.
The two find themselves in strange territory when ordering pizza takes an unexpected turn. It seems some things are better ordered with the mind?
Speaking of Mind Control, the commercial also features American Actor TJ Jackson , known for his roles in Hulu’s Vacation Friends, P-Valley, Star, Doom Patrol, and American Soul. Jackson is seen operating Domino’s app when his mind taps into a place his cravings have never gone before, let’s just say it’s more than ” Whaaaaat” he bargained for.
As to how this amazing collaboration came about, Domino’s senior voice of brand and innovation, says Netflix reached out in early 2021 to gauge the brand’s interest in the collaboration before the new season started.
The 4th season of Netflix’s science fiction horror drama series “Stranger Things” was released in two volumes. The first seven episodes were released on May 27, 2022, while the other set of two episodes was released on July 1, 2022.
As Stranger Things season 4 comes to an end. The mystery of the Upside Down was explained, as well as Eleven’s bloody experience at the Hawkins lab. Things were wrapped up so effectively, one could easily imagine the entire show ending in that final episode….
The exciting news is…there’s another entire season 5 to come. Which could mean bad news for the crew who are preparing to save Hawkins.. or what’s left of it.
To watch Domino’s Stranger Things themed commercial click here.
