{"id":2369,"date":"2026-06-19T22:39:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T22:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369"},"modified":"2026-06-19T22:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T22:39:07","slug":"the-frustrated-filmmaker-who-changed-political-advertising-overnight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369","title":{"rendered":"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

Before the dust even settles in the Los Angeles mayor\u2019s race, the unlikely breakout star may be Charles Curran.<\/p>\n

Read more Korea unwilling, Europe unable to help in a Taiwan crisis, war game finds<\/a><\/p>\n

The 35\u2011year\u2011old Hollywood filmmaker is the mind behind the Batman\u2011themed AI ad that energized the bid of the relatively unknown Republican candidate Spencer Pratt, sending half the field scrambling and rewriting the rules of political advertising overnight.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Curran didn\u2019t show up as a hired gun. He showed up as a frustrated Angeleno.<\/p>\n

\u201cI go up to the farmers\u2019 market every Monday, and there\u2019s people with jackets over their heads smoking crack around children,\u201d he told The Washington Times. \u201cThere\u2019s needles on the ground. It\u2019s not hyperbole. It\u2019s just something that we\u2019ve all kind of become numb to.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d had enough \u2014 and he had a tool.<\/p>\n

For three years, Mr. Curran, who grew up in Chicago, had been quietly building Menace Studios, a four\u2011person AI filmmaking shop built on a simple idea: AI would do for filmmaking what digital cameras did a generation ago \u2014 democratize it and blow up the gatekeepers.<\/p>\n

So when Mr. Pratt emerged channeling the same frustration with City Hall, Mr. Curran and his team didn\u2019t wait for permission. They just started making ads \u2014 for free.<\/p>\n

Mr. Curran describes him as \u201cnot a Democrat,\u201d and their Pratt operation as more of a jam band than a traditional media shop: ideas popped up, they batted them around, and, if they seemed funny, particularly the next morning, they made them. A video takes three to nine hours. Mr. Curran made the Batman ad himself.<\/p>\n

That viral spot cracked the code \u2014 a jarring, unexpected piece of political messaging that helped lift Mr. Pratt from fringe candidate to runoff contender and landed Menace Studios ads on Fox News, CNN, Joe Rogan and local newscasts nationwide. After Menace jumped in, Mr. Pratt began dramatically out-raising his rivals, including Mayor Karen Bass, who has been a staple of local politics.<\/p>\n

Mr. Pratt didn\u2019t win.<\/p>\n

But Dan Schnur, a political science professor at the University of California\u2011Berkeley and a former consultant, said the videos fundamentally changed the race \u2014 and maybe something bigger.<\/p>\n

No one watching the Batman ad \u2014 or the Star Wars\u2011inspired spot \u2014 thought the Caped Crusader or Luke Skywalker were actually running for mayor, Mr. Schnur noted. What the videos did instead was give Mr. Pratt\u2019s anger about crime, homelessness and civic dysfunction a jolt \u2014 reaching people who normally tune out politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of candidates can stand up and say, \u2019I\u2019m really mad about this,\u2019\u201d Mr. Schnur said. \u201cThe videos gave that message a jolt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Curran\u2019s critique of the industry is blunt: political advertising has become stale and formulaic, recycling the same paint\u2011by\u2011numbers messaging for decades. Mr. Schnur agrees, calling consultants risk\u2011averse and the world\u2019s best imitators \u2014 and he has little doubt that smart operatives in both parties have spent the spring watching and learning.<\/p>\n

Menace\u2019s philosophy runs deeper than aesthetics. Mr. Curran grew up in Chicago, competed in policy debate, studied filmmaking at the Savannah College of Art and Design, spent nearly a decade in New York where he finished his first documentary, then worked in commercial and fashion production before landing in Hollywood.<\/p>\n

He says he and his team are history nerds who trace their lineage to Thomas Nast, the 19th\u2011century cartoonist whose caricatures helped topple the Tammany Hall Democratic Party political machine in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou basically need a filmmaker who\u2019s incredibly good at storytelling, that understands memetics, that understands politics, and then understands how to do that at scale,\u201d Mr. Curran said. \u201cThe technical aspect is probably the easiest part.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump shows off newly refurbished Qatar-donated Air Force One jet<\/a><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why he doesn\u2019t think the old guard will simply adopt the tools and catch up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see all these political consultants saying, \u2019OK, you guys need to do AI now\u2019 \u2014 these are the people that have been making the same political ads for the last 50 years,\u201d Mr. Curran said. \u201cI don\u2019t think those are going to be the people that understand what we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also blunt about why he thinks the approach works better for the right than the left.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the right, you could say the homeless situation has become a problem,\u201d he said. \u201cOn the left, you would get an infographic explaining why this is not true and even the observation is problematic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The response from the political world, he said, has been overwhelming \u2014 and bipartisan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the entire spectrum,\u201d Mr. Curran said, declining to name names. \u201cAnyone you can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the race over, he\u2019s thinking bigger. The same technology that turned a four\u2011person shop into a viral political force, he argues, is about to do the same to Hollywood \u2014 stripping out the massive budgets and what he calls \u201crecycled slop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHollywood has always been driven by technological change,\u201d Mr. Curran said. \u201cI think this is going to be no different.\u201d<\/p>\n

He sees echoes of the 1970s, when a new generation reinvented an atrophied studio system. And he pushes back against fears about deepfakes, casting Menace\u2019s work in an entirely different tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI view this as the evolution of political satire,\u201d Mr. Curran said. \u201cLike Mark Twain. Like Tammany Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Schnur said that whatever happens to Mr. Pratt, Mr. Curran\u2019s impact on the 2026 midterms is already locked in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether Spencer Pratt ever runs for elective office again or not, Charlie Curran is going to have a formative impact on political messaging this fall and beyond,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For Mr. Curran, the point is bigger than any one campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people, after Citizens United [the Supreme Court ruling in 2010 that struck down campaign finance restrictions], decried that normal people wouldn\u2019t have a voice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more Tax the rich? California voters will decide in November; other states could follow<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before the dust even settles in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, the unlikely breakout star may be Charles Curran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nThe frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight - Home Buyer Relocation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight - Home Buyer Relocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Before the dust even settles in the Los Angeles mayor's race, the unlikely breakout star may be Charles Curran.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home Buyer Relocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T22:39:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\"},\"headline\":\"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T22:39:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369\"},\"wordCount\":1021,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ad4350a8e14e497bb1b23bc2cc6d52c1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369\",\"name\":\"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight - Home Buyer Relocation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ad4350a8e14e497bb1b23bc2cc6d52c1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T22:39:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ad4350a8e14e497bb1b23bc2cc6d52c1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ad4350a8e14e497bb1b23bc2cc6d52c1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?p=2369#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Home Buyer Relocation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homebuyerrelocation.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight - Home Buyer Relocation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight - Home Buyer Relocation","og_description":"Before the dust even settles in the Los Angeles mayor's race, the unlikely breakout star may be Charles Curran.","og_url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369","og_site_name":"Home Buyer Relocation","article_published_time":"2026-06-19T22:39:07+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a"},"headline":"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight","datePublished":"2026-06-19T22:39:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369"},"wordCount":1021,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad4350a8e14e497bb1b23bc2cc6d52c1.jpg","articleSection":["News","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369","url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369","name":"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight - Home Buyer Relocation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad4350a8e14e497bb1b23bc2cc6d52c1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-19T22:39:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad4350a8e14e497bb1b23bc2cc6d52c1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad4350a8e14e497bb1b23bc2cc6d52c1.jpg","width":1200,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=2369#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The frustrated filmmaker who changed political advertising overnight"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/","name":"Home Buyer Relocation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b2ac56955b020950324cad4c6c27b42a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com"],"url":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}