Eat’n Park TV spots 1990 to 2015

On November 26, 2023, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski

For 25 years, I directed and photographed almost every Eat’nPark TV campaign. During that time, Cliff Miller was the driving force behind Eat’n Park’s advertising. First as Creative Director at Ketchum Advertising, then as Eat’n Park’s own VP of Creative Services. It was Cliff’s idea to use Eat’n Park’s iconic “Smiley Cookie” as a key part of the company’s image & logo. (Cliff retired from Eat’n Park in 2016.)

From 35mm standard definition to HD digital, I thought it’d be fun to look back at a dozen Eat’n Park’s TV commercials from 1990 to 2015.  

John Pytka

On December 11, 2022, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski

Recently, I spent some time with my friend, director/cinematographer John Pytka at his farm in Western, Pennsylvania. John’s retired & just turned 80. We shot the bull about 35mm TV commercial production in the 70’s through 90’s. Back then, John & his older brother Joe, were Pytka Productions, one of the country’s top TV spot production companies. John directed & photographed network commercials for Alamo Car Rental, Gallo Wine, Budweiser, & many more. He was often used by San Francisco’s Hal Riney & Partners for iconic ad campaigns, including Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America”.

His reel showcases a different style of production than what’s en vogue today. It’s slower paced, beautiful photographic images. Many of the scenes incorporate slow-motion that creates a bigger than life feel to the action. I describe them as “moving stills”.  This contrasts with today’s fast cuts, punchy graphics & rapid camera moves. 

From Youtube, here’s a link to John Pytka’s showreel from the days of 35mm, standard definition… (click here)

Excela Health Accolades 2022

On February 1, 2022, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski

Excela Health wanted the region to be aware of the many accolades they’ve received from providing excellent healthcare. For their new TV campaign, Tom Chakurda, Excela’s Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, decided to use black & white for the medical procedures, combined with color for the various accolades.

Director-cinematographer, Glenn Przyborski had the challenge of shooting every scene during an actual medical procedure. There were no actors, rehearsed action or retakes. All the featured on-camera talent are the real doctors, nurses and hospital personnel.

John Moyer

On January 26, 2022, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski
John Moyer & Glenn Przyborski

Over the past 30 years, John “Buzz” Moyer has become one of the most sought after cameraman and Steadicam operators in the film & TV industry. John has shot over 70 feature films & TV series including Marvel’s, “The Avengers” and Stephen Spielberg’s remake of “West Side Story”. John won the 2022 Society of Camera Operators (SOC) Camera Operator of the Year Award for his work on “West Side Story”.

He began his career as a Steadicam operator working on numerous TV commercials, including hundreds of ads for Przyborski Productions. In the mid-90’s almost every major TV project included Steadicam cinematography. In the early 90’s, John bought a used Steadicam and taught himself to be an excellent operator. Today all his camera equipment is state-of-the-art.

John’s filmed projects all over the world, but still lives in Pittsburgh with his wife Kathy and their sons, Hayden & Grady. He’s also an excellent woodworker and talented pianist.

Healthcare Showreel Update

On May 4, 2017, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski

Every year Glenn Przyborski directs & photographs major healthcare campaigns. He shoots for agencies across the country as well as clients who internally handle their own creative marketing.

Przyborski is one of the few commercial directors who realizes production inside a busy hospital is not the same as filming in a studio. He knows how to work with doctors & medical teams to get great footage with minimal disruption. Everyone on the production crew is aware that real patients take precedence over the filming process.

The commercials featured on this reel demonstrate Glenn Przyborski’s directorial styles & techniques that enhance a project’s concept. All featured doctors & hospital staff are real. Testimonials are given by real patients. All operating room scenes were photographed during actual procedures.

Film Production in the 90’s

On July 18, 2019, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski


About once a year, clients will ask if I miss shooting commercials on film as we used to do on every project. Our last “film” production was in 2006. Looking back, my business partner, Jim DeVincentis and I had a lot of fun on film shoots in the late 80’s, 90’s & early 2000’s.

In the mid-90’s, JVC introduced a small mini-DV camcorder. We bought several of them and asked clients and crew to shoot some behind-the-scenes video during our film productions. I located several of the old tapes and edited them together with the actual footage we were filming. Of course everything back then was standard def.

Most people think of the past with nostalgia… as if things were always better in the “good old days.” Do I miss shooting film? I’ve always enjoyed working with agencies & clients to create commercials that everyone was proud to air. The specific production “medium” was never the most important part of a project.

My son John said, “Dad… If the vinyl LP record can return to popularity, movie film has a good chance of a come back.” You never know…

Excela Health “Accolades” TV Campaign

On January 9, 2020, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski

Excela Health is the largest medical system in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Excela has three major medical centers… Westmoreland Hospital, Frick Hospital, and Latrobe Hospital, plus smaller, specialized medical treatment facilities. They’re also the county’s largest employer.

Glenn Przyborski was chosen to direct & photograph Excela’s TV campaign titled, “Accolades” which showcases the system’s health services and areas of specialization… from complex orthopedics to open-heart surgery.

Using a crew with experience shooting inside busy hospitals, Glenn Przyborski directed and photographed the campaign in 4K Ultra High Definition. This allowed hi-res “frame grabs” from the video to be re-purposed for billboards, social media, and other marketing purposes.

Excela’s Tom Chakurda created the concept and Robert Firment handled the complex logistics that allowed all the scenes for “Accolades” to be shot at 3 separate hospitals, over 2 long days.

SmithFoods “The Children’s Table”

On November 5, 2018, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski

SmithFoods of Orrville, Ohio is a family owned company, founded in 1909. They supply premium dairy and other food products throughout Ohio, Indiana and Missouri.

The Innis Maggiore Agency of Canton, OH chose Przyborski Productions to produce SmithFoods’ latest TV campaign. The concept called for casting 5 children and 5 adults who could be those same kids, only now in their 40’s.

Glenn Przyborski directed and photographed the commercial in 4K digital. Props and wardrobe stylists selected kid’s clothes and table props that were popular in the mid-to-late 80’s. Back then, all TV was standard definition, so we rendered the opening sequence in the 4 x 3 ratio of older TV sets. After several visual tests, we decided not to alter the color or contrast of the opening sequence.

The commercial runs throughout Ohio and selected portions of the Mid-West.

Throwback Thursday TV Spots

On May 29, 2018, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski

A short time ago, I ran into Russ Streiner, an old friend who’s best known as the producer of George Romero’s, “Night of the Living Dead”. He has the unique distinction of being the first person in the film killed by a zombie. Russ was excited about the Blu-ray HD release of this classic horror film. In the 60’s & 70’s, Russ produced dozens of television ad campaigns. Many people are unaware that his business partner, the late George Romero, was a popular director, cinematographer and editor of TV spots before moving on to motion pictures.

Russ asked if I had saved any of the old commercials created by Hartwick-Przyborski Productions. Paul Hartwick (who passed in 2013) and I founded the company in 1975. From 1975 to 1987, “H/P” produced hundreds of TV commercials for clients and ad agencies across the USA. At one time, we had offices in New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh.

I located several boxes of old 2” and 1” videotape. All these spots were originally shot on 35mm film. In the 70’s & 80’s, commercials were distributed to networks and TV stations, exclusively on videotape.

In no particular running order, I selected 25 commercials. They look and sound so dated when compared to what we do today. Check out the popularity of musical jingles and just how bad electronic title graphics looked 35+ years ago. If you’re over 40, you might remember some of these ads from when they originally aired…

This video is also on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/272371561

YES & the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

On April 3, 2017, in Uncategorized, by Glenn Przyborski

This Friday, April 7th, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will induct England’s popular 70’s & 80’s rock group, YES. Cheering in the audience will be John Brabender, one of the country’s best known political media experts, ad agency owner, frequent contributor on MSNBC and CNN and long-time super-fan of YES. Brabender also led a crusade to get his favorite band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Every once in a while, a project comes along that’s completely different and fun to shoot. With hits like “Roundabout”, “Owner of a Lonely Heart”, “Long Distance Runaround” and many more, YES, is truly a major group from the 70’s & 80’s. Yet they still have a huge, cult-like, devoted following that sells out every performance.

For the group’s U.S. tour, Brabender asked Glenn Przyborski to direct and photograph several short videos that would play on YES’ concert video screens. They were tied to late 70’s nostalgia, including an homage to a scene from the movie “Almost Famous”. The videos were played before the band’s performance and to signal the end of intermission.

The videos were edited at Phenomenon by Thad Christian. Michael Goodis created the original sound design. John Brabender created and wrote the original concepts.