Andrew Laurich of production house ContagiousLA, who earned inclusion into this year’s SHOOT New Directors Showcase, is at it again with a spec spot which was entered into the recently concluded MoFilm Cannes Contest. The piece opens on what appears to be a Sovereign Bank credit card bill with various entries such as some seven dollars and change for birdseed, a $47 expenditure at a gas station, $600-plus for airline fare and so on.
We then see those expenditures come to life, starting with a seemingly lonely guy seated on a park bench, pulling birdseed out of a large bag and throwing it on the ground for the pigeons. However, there are no pigeons to be found–only a large chicken (actually a person in a chicken costume) who sits down next to the man. They become fast friends as we see the man driving a convertible with the chicken as a front seat passenger–a super notes that this entailed the $47 expenditure at a gas station. Similarly supered expenditures such as that for a bike rental accompany the sight of the twosome peddling in the park; another bill for a restaurant shows the man and his feathered friend enjoying a meal together.
But we all have our calling and the chicken realizes his when he sees a bird soaring overhead. The chicken tries to fly, flapping his wings but to no avail.
The man knows what he must do as that airfare expenditure comes to life. He drives the chicken to the airport and they bid each other a fond farewell. Later the man looks up in the sky as a plane flies overhead. The comical, parting-is-such-sweet-sorrow moment is tagged by the Sovereign logo.
Laurich directed, shot and edited the spec spot out of ContagiousLA. Natalie Sakai of Contagious served as executive producer as well as producer.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More