A tall man in a headless freak Halloween costume tries to eat a scrumptious Dunkin’ Donuts munchkin donut hole but to no avail. Each time he attempts to put the taste treat into his mouth, there’s no mouth for him to deposit it in.
The frustration builds as the man stands in front of a snack table at a Halloween house party. Up comes a girl dressed as a pirate. She looks up at the headless monster who towers over her and assesses, “Not a smart costume choice.”
A voiceover caps this :15 by informing us that tasty, spooky Halloween sprinkled munchkins and donuts are back for a limited time at Dunkin’ Donuts.
This charmingly offbeat spot was directed by Mike Maguire of The Directors Bureau, Hollywood, for Hill Holliday Boston.
Melissa Culligan executive produced for The Directors Bureau, with Katrine Haberstock serving as line producer. The DP was Barry Peterson.
The Hill Holliday ensemble consisted of executive creative director Kevin Moehlenkamp, group creative directors Kevin Daley and Tim Cawley, associate creative director/copywriter Rick McHugh, art director Daren Bult and producer Meghan McGuire.
Editor was Joel Walker of Bubble, Boston.
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