The language gap is deployed to good humor but for a worthy cause in “Little People,” an online :45 for the Belgium-based N.G.O. Vredeseilanden (‘Peace Islands’).
“Little People” opens on a hitchhiker and a Spanish-speaking farmer trucking through a dusty agricultural area. A misunderstanding quickly ensues when the spirited hitchhiker tells the driver he sells “little people,” forgetting to specify that they are key chains. “Every year in Belgium we sell little people,” said the Belgium. “Most people use them as a key chain or on their backpacks or in the car,” he says.
Visuals of actual little people dangling from a key chain, a backpack and a rearview mirror flash across the screen. The smiling Belgian is obviously unaware that the driver assumes he peddles actual people. Disgusted, the driver comes to sudden halt after the Belgian confesses that his dog once ate one. Calling the hitchhiker, in a heavy accent, “crazy Belgian!” the farmer leaves the perplexed traveler behind on a barren dirt road. The spot closes with the tag, “Buy ‘little people’ keychains and help poor farmers in the South,” accompanied by the Vredeseilanden logo.
Frank Devos of Caviar, Los Angeles/Brussels/Amsterdam, directed “Little People” for agency Duval Guillaume in Antwerp, Belgium.
The NGO program encourages sustainability for farmers while raising funds through the sales of the keychains. The revenue benefits indigenous farmers.
Kato Maes exec produced for Caviar with Ilse Joye and Katia Renson serving as producers. The DP was Danny Elsen.
The Duval Guillaume creative team included creative directors Geoffrey Hantson and Dirk Domen, copywriter Sebastian De Valck, art director Thierry Wiebking and producer Bruno Dejonghe.
Dieter Diependaele edited via Caviar, Brussels.
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