By Robert Goldrich
This montage spot for the United Way of Central New Mexico features young men from varied walks of life. Yet they have a common, albeit disturbing, bond–they come from families in which different generations have committed spousal abuse.
As the PSA unfolds, it initially appears to be pointing out the cyclical nature of such abuse–and the fact that there’s a high degree of likelihood that these young males could take up the same violent pattern. The dialogue of the men seems to be setting us up for the seeming eventuality that they are following in those terrifying footsteps. Each man relates that his grandfather beat his grandmother, and that his father beat the mother. Then finally one male relates with pride that he is beating “the odds.” The other men shown in this spot have also thankfully moved 180 degrees away from what had been the behavioral norm in their families.
This positive turn shows that the cycle can be broken, with each male noting that they have done so because they are better men than their fathers and granddads. An end tag contains the better man slogan and identifies the spot’s sponsor, the United Way Services of Central New Mexico.
“Beating The Odds” is one of two spots in the campaign. The other, “The Way It Was,” is a montage of men who were abused as children–and whose fathers were abused as children. However, today these male adults have elected to break away from that family pattern, each declaring, “That was the way it was; it stops here.”
These client-direct spots were directed by Peter Zavadil of Darcy/Fox Productions, Santa Monica. The campaign was produced by Rebecca Elise Productions, Albuquerque, in association with Darcy/Fox. Rebecca Elise was the producer. The spots were shot on location in Albuquerque by DP David Waterston.
Writer/creative director on the campaign was Albuquerque-based freelancer Carol Henderson.
Editor was Jim Morris of The Filmworkers Club, Nashville. Other artisans from The Filmworkers Club were colorist Rodney Williams and Henry artist/graphic compositor John Slinger. Audio mixers were Aaron Flanary and Michael Davis of Digital Audio Post, Nashville. Principal actors included Jose Avila, Diego Deane, Pasquale Gallucci and “Sarge” Roger Avants.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