white. The ad features a man riding a bicycle into the countryside to retrieve eggs for his wife. He places his precious cargo in a basket, and by the time he returns home, all of the eggs are broken. His irate wife sends him back for more; once again, they are destroyed by the bumpy ride. Finally, the man arrives home with a basketful of whole eggs. Turns out he discovered egg cartons. After that revelation, the spot turns to color, and we see an overhead shot of passengers safely tucked into a Toyota minivan. Nichol is particularly fond of the spot. "I think that a bit of comedy with a good sense of style is fun to do," he says.
The director’s flair for cinematic imagery shouldn’t come as a surprise. While still a film student at Los Angeles’ University of Southern California (USC), Nichol worked as a cameraman, shooting documentaries on the making of Steven Spielberg films, including Empire of the Sun.
Upon graduation, he continued working on documentaries and shot music videos for artists such as New Kids on the Block, Sting, Lenny Kravitz and Aerosmith. (His efforts for Aerosmith’s "Pink" garnered an MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video in ’98).
Nichol has feature film aspirations, and is currently working on a script with a writer friend. "I’d rather not talk about it until something happens. I don’t want to be one of those directors talking about ‘his script.’"
Is it possible that feature or commercial work could bring him back to the States to live? Maybe to Hollywood? Actually, a move to the San Francisco area, where his family is based, is more likely. "What I’d like to do is split my time a little bit more between America and Europe," Nichol says. "My wife and I are going to figure it out this year."
Nichol says he doesn’t have to choose to live in just one country, although he might want to make sure he is in the states the next time he has an ad running during the Super Bowl. Although he did receive plenty of unsolicited reviews. Nichol’s friends and colleagues in the U.S. flooded him with calls after the spot aired. "Everybody said they liked it," he says. "I’m glad, because I liked working on it. It was a blast."c
