Creating this commercial for Dumpster Depot was so much fun! With Christmas approaching and everyone feeling the Christmas spirit, it was the perfect time to work on a project like this. My daughter, Reagan, even got to play the role of the elf on a shelf in the commercial. Which by itself was awesome, because we had our own elf on a shelf in our home that she looked out for every morning.

As the official filming date approached, we were biting our nails hoping the the elf costume would make it in time. After looking everywhere locally for the right costume with zero luck, we had no choice but to turn to Amazon to save the day. To make matters worse, we tried to avoid any costumes with green to prevent issues with the green screen. Thankfully, the costume made it in time and we were all set.

The night the costume arrived, we filmed Reagan's elf on a shelf portions in front of the green screen. This enabled me to shrink her down and place her on the mantle in the room where the decorations were being taken off the Christmas tree. I must say she did a great job pretending to react to things that weren't actually there. In the end, it definitely looks like she's in the room with the tree. Guess that acting class paid off after all.

On the day of the main shoot, we staged a small Christmas tree at a home where decorations were being taken down, even as Christmas day was still almost two weeks away. As that day of filming concluded, we finished up at the Dumpster Depot location in Aiken where we shot with the owner himself. Reagan handed him the Christmas tree to be recycled, the owner recorded the voiceover, and the rest is history.

We had an awesome time creating this Dumpster Depot Christmas Tree recycling commercial, and can't wait for the next one!