"NATURE" CALLS THE WILD FOR FRUIT STICKERZ
Director Keith Schofield of Caviar, Los Angeles/Brussels/Amsterdam, weaves cautionary tales of improper eating etiquette into the new :30 “Nature” for General Mills Fruit Stickerz via Saatchi N.Y. The spot facetiously reminds young snackers of the dangers of not following Stickerz’s eating instructions.
In “Nature,” tempting wildlife with alluring new Fruit Stickerz proves to be disturbing–if not dangerous. The spot opens on two boys in a park playfully covering their faces with the tasty and tactile star-shaped fruit snacks. A miffed park ranger appears and barks, “I see you won’t heed my warnings about putting those stickers on your faces and not eating and enjoying them properly, so I must say good day to you.” The ranger walks away. The boys laugh until a hungry deer, squirrel and raccoon appear, extending unusually long tongues to lick the stickers on the boys’ cheeks. Frozen in their places, one of the boys observes, “This deer sure likes strawberry.” The ranger yells off screen, “They love strawberry!” The scene cuts to a Stickerz box and a deer’s hoof sticking a fruit star on the box. A voiceover and super conclude, “Stickerz. Fruit-flavored snacks. They stick.”
Damian Acevedo was the DP. Editor was Dave Anderson of Mackenzie Cutler, New York. VFX house was Method, N.Y.
NO MORE DRAMA FINDS TWO WINNERS To educate women on the PMS-fighting benefits of milk, the California Milk Processor Board (CMPB)–known for its famed “got milk?” and “toma leche” (Drink Milk) slogans–sponsored the No More Drama With Toma Leche contest. Californians submitted a video Web Novela or storyboard illustrating how milk can save the day and even a few relationships. An L.A. couple and Clovis, Calif. high school students won $3000 collectively for their creativity.
“By creating such a unique and quirky contest, we wanted to shed light on a serious topic,” said Steve James, CMPB exec director. “Novelas are known for being high drama and having a Web Novela contest allows everyone to talk about what could be viewed as a sensitive topic in a lighthearted manner.”
Los Angeles area wife and husband team, Ana Lilian Flores and Alan Huijsmans, in collaboration with friends Antonio Perez and Omar Villegas, won $2,000 in the video Web Novela category with their overly dramatic soap opera entitled: Pasiones, Mentiras y Secretos (Passions, Lies and Secrets). The piece shows a man who tells his wife every 10 years of his infidelity–once with her sister, another time with her best friend. The tell-all tales conincide with the wife’s period so she finally seeks relief with milk and the milkman, leaving her hubby for good.
Meanwhile students Sendy Garcia and Lyssette Trujillo from Center for Advanced Research and Technology in Clovis won $1,000 for a storyboard titled “The Day” about a desperate boy who realizes that it’s his girlfriend’s “time of the month.” To avoid her wrath, he greets her with the “wonder tonic” as she walks in the door.
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Jim Bowhall returns to Crawford Post Production, Atlanta, as creative director, leading a team of artists in collaboration with clients to develop storyboards and cultivate ideas. Bowhall had been creative director/partner for Atlanta VFX/edit shop Lvngrm. He earlier worked at Crawford for a dozen years, honing his talent in Avid, Flame/Inferno, Fire/Smoke/Combustion, 3ds Max and Adobe Creative Suite….Editor Jason Kileen is now repped by Cause & [Effect], N.Y., on a non-exclusive basis.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More