Director Clay Weiner of Biscuit Filmworks juxtaposes quintessential Hollywood insincerity with wild natural beauty in PETA’s nine-spot “Agents in the Wild” campaign for Y&R New York which aims to end behind-the-scenes animal abuse in the entertainment industry through online commercials, a social media campaign and a website for Wild Animal Artist Representation, Inc.
In this week’s “Best Work You May Never See” entry entitled “Chimp Pitch,” the camera centers on talent agent Devon Dentler of Wild Animal Artist Representation. He looks straight at us as if talking to an off-camera chimp in the wilds of the jungle to try to gain the animal as a client.
He pitches the chimp on a movie/TV role as a cop, making him the ultimate PI, standing for “primate investigator.”
Interrupted briefly by a cell phone call from a studio exec, the fakery of agent talk continues, marked by a failed bribe of bananas, promises of the moon to the prospective chimp client replete with all the star trappings–a car, courtside tickets and “a nice cage.” That cage reference, an unintentional blurting out of the truth, is immediately amended by Dentler who describes the environment instead as being “a gated community.”
A series of messages then appears on screen, reading, “Hollywood is no place for wild animals.”/”They’re caged and abused behind the scenes.”/”Help us end it.” The latter message is accompanied by the PETA logo and website address.
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More