We open on a roomful of people, most standing before us at eye level and some high up in a mezzanine across the way.
“Everyone has friends,” relates a voiceover.
But then the crowd thins out slightly as the narrator narrows down the type of friends. “Online friends.” Next the crowd diminishes further with, “Friends to go out with on a Saturday night.”
Still, the number of people in our view remains fairly significant. But more “friends” fade away as the voiceover then says, “Friends to hang out with and do nothing.”
The next qualifier pares down what was once a standing room only crowd to but a handful of people: “Friends who show up on a moving day.”
And then all but one friend fades away before our eyes as the voiceover relates, “And then there are the friends who will be there when someone is dealing with a mental illness.”
That one special friend then steps forward towards the camera. The voiceover asks, “Are you one of those friends?”
An end tag reads, “Mental illness. What a difference a friend makes,” accompanied by a website address (whatadifference.org) and logos for the Ad Council and federal government agency SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).
“Friends” was directed by Clay Williams of bicoastal/international MJZ with production services provided by Radke Films, Toronto. David Zander and Scott Mackenzie were exec producers, respectively, for MJZ and Radke Films. Line producer at Radke was Ken Eggett. Andre Pienaar was the DP.
Agency was Grey, New York, with a team that consisted of chief creative director for Grey North America Tim Mellors, creative director Rob Baiocco, art director Roger Wong, copywriter Ben Seldon and producer Eric Tao.
Editor was Jerry Fried of Red Car, New York. Visual Effects artist was David Sullivan of Red Car.
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