LMC alum gets ‘Super’ chippy

Gill’s ad for the big game could make her a millionaire

Amber+Gill+and+her+husband+David+are+one+of+five+finalists+for+the+Doritos+Crash+the+Super+Bowl+contest+with+their+commercial+Cowboy+Kid.

Andrew Abajian

Amber Gill and her husband David are one of five finalists for the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest with their commercial “Cowboy Kid.”

In just over one week the biggest event of the year, the National Football League’s (NFL) Super Bowl, will air on Fox. Many people dream to be a participant in the event, but most never make it.

One Los Medanos College (LMC) alumna will live out her dream of being involved with the Super Bowl, but in a different way than you might think.

Amber Gill graduated from LMC in the fall semester of 1999 after five semesters. She graduated with a degree in Liberal Arts and completed all the requirements to transfer as a music major.

Gill never finished a four year degree, though, but has made a career with the music skills she learned from Music Professor Silvester Henderson, and she credits his guidance for where she is today.

She is presently making a splash with something just a bit different from her background in music as she is the producer of a commercial that is one of five finalists to be a Doritos commercial that will air during the Super Bowl.

This is happening because Gill, her husband David and a group of 30 others got together to enter a Super Bowl ad contest put on by Doritos.

This is the eighth year that Doritos is running this program, but it is the first time that fans will get to decide which commercial airs during the Super Bowl.

“We’re just trying to get everyone to vote,” Gill said.

She wants everyone to vote because she believes it is just as cool to be able to say that your vote helped decide whose commercial got selected for the Super Bowl.

They are making sure everyone knows how to vote for their commercial with their own website www.vote4cowboykid.com, efforts on social media and a daily email reminder to anyone who signs up for it on their website.

The commercial itself came from a round table of ideas among the crew, and when the idea of two boys and a sibling rivalry came up it hit home for her.

“I am a mother of two boys so it resonated with me,” she said.

So when they came up with the final idea they had two weeks to shoot and only needed the actors.  The mother was the easy part. She came to them from the recommendation of a friend of a friend. The two kids made the cut after auditions were held, but it was the dog who was the hardest to find and ended up taking up most of the budget.

They found Ben, the dog actor, through an agency called Hollywood Animals. The dog was paid the most because it was important that they had a dog who could do what they needed.

In the end, they got everything they needed in time and shot the commercial in two days, including shooting the scene of the child on the dog in front of a green screen. They then took a week to edit.

If all goes right, the Gill’s and their team could be sharing $1 million and get the opportunity to work on the set of the Avengers sequel that begins filming this spring. Money like that doesn’t seem like a lot when split between over 30 people, but it could still do wonders for the Gill family’s future.

“If we win, we want to start our own production company with our share,” Gill said. And with that company they hope to make more commercials and maybe a movie someday.

Gill knows that there is no guarantee that they will win and is just excited to be a part of something this big.

“We are very fortunate and humble that we’ve made it this far in the competition,” she said.

If you would like to help the Gill’s and their crew achieve their dream, you can go to their website at www.vote4cowboykid.com and vote once a day or you can vote at www.doritos.com. Voting ends on January 28 at 10 p.m. and every vote counts.