One of the first questions I always get when I say I run a small company is “What’s it called?”. After saying it a few times and spelling it out, the inevitable question arises – why? Well, there’s here’s an easy answer for you…
“Lucky Frame” comes from a scene in The Shmenges: The Last Polka, a severely under-rated film with John Candy and Eugene Levy documenting the last concert by a pair of Lutonian brothers whose meteoric rise in the world of pop polka leads to fame, fortune, and scandal.
In the scene, Yosh and Stan explain how they got their start in the world of television with a polka-themed bowling show. Once every episode the the contestant had the chance to win a $5000 prize by bowling a strike or a spare in the Lucky Frame. Of course, since they were putting the money up themselves they had to make sure no one ever won…
I think the metaphor is somewhat apt for starting a company…sometimes it can feel like poor Rocky Timmins – you have only one chance to make any money, but the people holding the purse strings will do everything they can to make it difficult for you. Other times I understand Yosh and Stan, who desperately want the publicity and need to make it to the top, but have a really hard time parting with their hard-earned cash.
So there you have it, the origins of Lucky Frame. It seems as fitting as ever, and we are in the process of slowly evolving our brand identity, originally created by the amazing folks at Stereographic, to reflect our new vision and direction whilst staying true to our roots with Yosh and Stan.
On a related note, The Shmenges has provided names for a few other projects…