A young man moves about suspiciously in a mall department store, appearing to be sizing up a wristwatch on display. A vigilant security guard waits and watches our prospective shoplifter. Suddenly the young man takes off with the security guard in hot pursuit.
The chase goes on throughout the store, with the supposed culprit knocking down a couple of store mannequins, forming an obstacle course to slow down the guard. Finally the man eludes the guard by dashing into an elevator with the doors closing behind him.
But the guard is undeterred. He races up a flight of stairs and tackles the young man as he exits the elevator.
“Took you long enough,” says the guy to the guard. The two then agree to do it all over again “same time, tomorrow.”
A voiceover relates, “There’s nothing like a little healthy competition. Challenge someone to live well.”
The PSA is sponsored by LiveWell Colorado, an organization looking to encourage people to eat healthy and get exercise.
“Mall Chase” is one of two spots in a package directed by Steve Burrows of Oil Factory, Los Angeles, for Sukle Advertising & Design, Denver.
The Sukle team includes art director Andy Dutlinger, writer Zac Spector and producer Michon Schmidt.
Billy Poveda exec produced for Oil Factory with Jay Wakefield serving as head of production, Colin Moran as production supervisor and Sean Hobbs as line producer. The DP was Tom Marvel.
Editor was Jeremiah Shuff of Lightborne, Cincinnati.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More