We open on a young girl hanging out in her bedroom. She’s going about her business when she hears something hit her window. Immediately we assume it’s a boy suitor or a gal pal slinging a pebble against the glass to get her attention. And that assumption proves correct–kind of.
Indeed a young male has thrown a pebble against the window. But the camera reveals that she lives in a high-rise city apartment complex and hitting the window with anything represents a Herculean feat in terms of arm strength and accuracy.
Turns out the young lad grew up to be Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios who we see in game footage rocketing a throw to nail a base runner. These Jays have some exciting young guns, another reason to turn out to the ball park.
“Pebble” is one of three spots in a campaign directed by James Haworth of The Partners’ Film Company, Toronto, for agency Publicis, Toronto.
Aerin Barnes served as executive producer/producer for Partners’, with Stanny Park serving as producer. The DP was Tico Poulakakis.
The agency team consisted of creative director Duncan Bruce, group creative directors Tim Kavander and Bill Newbery, art director Mark Spalding, copywriter Miles Markovic and producer Erica Metcalfe.
Editor was Leo Zahartos of Blue Highway, Toronto. Visual effects artist was Alex Boothby of Technicolor, Toronto.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More