This spot introduces us to a bare-bones TV talk show, Stayin’ On The Road, which features guests who promote idiotic ways by which to get away with driving while drunk.
In this installment of the series, Lenny shares his foolproof method for driving a car while intoxicated: “Turning is the problem. So don’t turn…Keep going straight.”
When the interviewer asks if this advice would differ if driving on a winding road, Lenny responds, “No, straight.”
Lenny offers the same reply for when driving towards a “Do Not Enter” sign.
A super appears which reads, “There are a lot of idiots out there. Help us keep them off the road.”
A “Call 911” message appears in the end tag, accompanied by the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) logo.
“Lenny” is one of four spots in a MADD Canada campaign directed by Adam Massey of Holiday Films, Toronto, for TBWA Toronto. The campaign centers on the talk show and its guest “experts” who tell us how they beat the system and get away with impaired driving.
The TBWA Toronto team included executive creative director Anthony Wolch, creative director/writer James Ansley, art director Denise Cole and producer Nadya MacNeil.
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