MacLaren McCann, Toronto, Puts On Humorous Cab Fare For Dentyne
By Robert Goldrich
We open on a young couple in the backseat of a taxicab. The guy gives the gal a couple of Dentyne Frost Bites. He then empties the rest of the container in his mouth.
As the girl enjoys the cool taste of the Dentyne mint gum treats, we hear the sound of ice hardening. The camera then reveals her beau’s head, which is completely frozen.
She lets out a half scream. The taxi driver looks back over his shoulder and yells in horror. The cab then begins swerving back and forth.
The force of car’s sudden erratic movement cause’s the guy’s frozen head to break off and fall into his girlfriend’s lap. She screams. The cabby screams.
Quick cuts takes us back and forth between the gal and the taxi driver as they continue to exchange blood curdling screams, reacting to the sight of not only a detached head but also a headless body still sitting in the back seat. The decapitated head maintains a somewhat amused facial expression, seemingly wondering what everybody is screaming about.
The driver then hits the brakes hard and jumps out of the cab. Still screaming, he is last seen running wildly through city streets.
Against the backdrop of a parting product shot showing us a package of Dentyne Frost Bites, a voiceover relates, “Dentyne Frost Bites. The small but powerful gum.”
Titled “Frozen Head,” this :30 came from a team at MacLaren McCann, Toronto, consisting of creative director David Kelso, group creative director/writer Andy Manson, art director Scott Couture and executive producer Franca Piacente.
Steve Chase directed the spot, which was produced by The Partners’ Film Company, Toronto. Chase is a principal in bicoastal Reactor Films.
Chase was drawn to the project’s comedy and the chance to again work with MacLaren McCann. The director and the ad shop have teamed assorted times over the years, including on X-Box’s “Tic-Tac-Toe,” which too earned distinction in SHOOT‘s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery (1/17/03, p. 11).
While the comedy of “Frozen Head” appealed to Chase, there was some difficult creative ground to tread. The notion of decapitation being funny given current world events was cause for some concern. “The question came up during a pre-pro meeting, ‘Are we doing the wrong thing right now,'” recalled Chase. “Our answer was to make it absurd comedy–and to add the touch where the guy with the frozen decapitated head is nonplussed by the situation. If this were a cartoon, the coyote–after failing to catch the Roadrunner–would get crushed by a rock and then walk away. Our guy had his eyes moving and reacting to the screaming that was going on all around him. Our execution had to be funny and over the top.”
Gigi Realini executive produced for Partners’, with Link York serving as producer. The DP was Miro Bazak. Production designer was Alan Fellows. The principal actors were Ryan Bellville, Lindsay Ames and Rolondo Alverez Giacoman.
Editor was Bruce Copeman of Axyz, Toronto. The colorist was Billy Ferwerda of Notch, Toronto.
Audio post mixer was John Naslen of Technicolor Creative Services, Toronto.
Prosthetics effects were done by artist Louise Macintosh of Caligari, Toronto. Steve Schackleton and Jim McFall of Big House, Toronto, handled special effects/rigging. Geoff Marshall of Crush, Inc., Toronto, served as artist for animation deployed at the end of the spot.
Dino Cuzzolino of David Fleury Music, Toronto, was the composer, with David Fleury producing. Sound designer was Toronto-based freelancer Dan Kuntz.After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More