Jay Huling is the creative director at the Hoffman Agency on Hendricks Ave.
WHAT DOES THE
AGENCY DO?
They handle marketing, communications, advertising and public relations for private and public organizations.
WHAT DOES YOUR
JOB INVOLVE?
“I am responsible for managing the flow of creative work. I write a lot of copy for T.V., radio, brochures, print ads, campaigns, stuff like that. I also work with the artists to strategize concepts of what we’re going to do for the client. So, I am responsible for the finished output.”
WHAT IS YOUR
CLIENTELE LIKE?
“It’s a really wide range. We’re doing the water conservation ads [for St. Johns River Water Management District] and we’ve done transportation. We deal with a lot of banks and non-profits, like educational institutions. It isn’t unusual for a medium-sized agency to have a wide variety as opposed to a monster agency where you may work on just one big account and that’s all you do. We have a lot going on.”
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AT HOFFMAN?
“I’ve been with the agency for seven years. Officially, I started out as a copywriter. Then I made associate creative director. A couple of years ago I was promoted [to creative director].”
WHAT IS YOUR INTEREST IN ADVERTISING?
“It’s a great combination of creative thinking and strategic thinking. One of the biggest complaints you’ll find clients have about their ad agencies is that the creative people are just trying to be creative. People may love a commercial and talk about it. Yet, those commercials never really sell a product or connect with their audience. It’s just a funny commercial. We don’t do that. It may have humor but there’s a message there.”
WHAT IS YOUR
BIGGEST CHALLENGE?
“The blank page. There’s this level of expectation. Most challenging is creating something from nothing. How it happens, I don’t know. The second thing is trying to sell the idea.”
TO WHAT PROFESSIONAL GROUPS DO YOU BELONG?
Huling is a card-carrying member of the Dramatists Guild of America. He also participates in the Theater Communications Group.
HOMETOWN
Jacksonville.
EDUCATION
Jacksonville University is where Huling earned his degree in theater arts.
WHY STUDY THEATER?
“I was always into creative writing. I took playwrighting and film classes plus a bit of acting. I have some plays being performed. Last year, I had one produced in Pennsylvania. This year, one is being performed in Washington, D.C. at the Washington Theater Festival. It’s a month-long festival they have.”
WHAT IS THE NAME OF YOUR PLAY?
“It’s called Elvis of Nazareth. It’s a comedy.”
IS IT SUPPOSED TO BE CONTROVERSIAL?
“No, not really. In the play, Elvis actually meets different characters from the Bible. It’s not quite ‘A Christmas Carol.’ It’s not unusual in the play; Moses walking in is no different from the UPS guy walking in.”
DO YOU WRITE DRAMAS
AS WELL?
“They’re mostly comedies but they always have some sort of strange theme. ‘Elvis of Nazareth’ has serious moments but it’s not heavy-handed. It’s more sub-text.”
HOW DID YOU GO FROM THEATER TO MARKETING?
“When I was at JU, I started doing freelance copy writing in the Shopper magazines. Then, when I graduated, I was trying to get a job. People would say to me, ‘We’re not hiring right now but we’re doing this brochure. Could you write my brochure for me? And I would or write a video script. So, I accidentally started a freelance business right out of college. I got so much work that I never ended up getting a job. After 10 years I eventually freelanced here.”
WHY NOT MAKE PLAYWRIGHTING YOUR CAREER?
“There’s a line they say in theater about writing plays: ‘You can make a killing writing plays but you can’t make a living.’ I don’t know who originally said it. The idea is there are the Neil Simons of the world that are huge and then there are the people who aren’t. I would say 90 percent of all plays that are published are written by people who are not necessarily making a living as a playwright or making an incredible amount of money. They do it because it’s what they like to do. To me, it’s no different than if I was into gardening on the weekends. Some of my plays are being performed and that’s great. For years they weren’t and I kept doing them anyway because I like doing them.”
WHAT ARE YOU
WORKING ON NOW?
“There are about five plays that I’m working on. I’ll get stuck on one and then jump to another. As I’m working on one, I may have an idea for the other one.”
NO GREEN THUMB
Huling isn’t into gardening but he does enjoy the heck out of baseball. He admits to being a huge fan of the Cincinnati Reds.
WHO’S YOUR HERO?
“Johnny Bench [former catcher for the Reds]. I grew up at a time when he was a star. He carried himself with such professionalism and he never showed up an opponent. He was a team player.”
—by Monica Chamness