There’s no room for a happy ending but there are plenty of laughs in this nearly two-and-a-half-minute theatrical trailer for the Mill Valley Film Festival, directed by the team of Carter & Blitz (Mack Carter and Jeff Blitz) from bicoastal Anonymous Content for Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos (HHCC), San Francisco.
The premise is simple yet outlandish: The 25th annual Mill Valley Film Festival is holding a reunion in which key characters from the movies get together to discuss old times—and to jockey for roles in this year’s festival lineup.
We open on a typical sign-in table, littered with nametags of registrants. At this juncture, we’re not sure what the event is—a seminar? Wedding reception?
However, this clearly isn’t your typical get-together. The woman seated behind the table to greet registrants is, to say the least, flirtatious. The first registrant to check in is a guy with a bit of an attitude—or mystique, depending on your inclination.
"Who are you?" she asks.
"Mysterious stranger," he replies.
"Would that be mysterious stranger who lives with his mother?" she queries. "Or mysterious stranger in town to shake things up?"
"Shake things up," he responds, at which point we see a tabletop shot of his conference badge which identifies him as "Mysterious Stranger in Town to Shake Things Up," accompanied by a snapshot photo of the man.
The woman is indeed shaken up and clearly turned on by the tall stranger. We then see her badge: "Hooker With a Heart of Gold."
"Mysterious Stranger" then walks by a sign, which reveals the event he’s checked into: the Mill Valley Film Festival 25th Reunion.
Inside the reunion ballroom, we see a bookworm-type, eyeglass-wearing lad bemoaning all the scripts he sees about playing chess. An older man offers comfort, relating "You give smart kids hope."
The kid retorts, "How about I get to nail a cheerleader? That will give smart kids hope."
Tabletop shots of their nametags reveal that the kid is "Lonely Child Prodigy," while the man is "Inspirational School Teacher."
The camera then takes us across the room to a white man and a heavyset African American woman seated together in a restaurant-type booth. The guy complains, "Seems like every film I see there’s a ghetto mom trying to make it. Any advice?"
The woman counters that he should "try to be the best damn racist who learns a lesson."
The ghetto man and racist are then identified via their reunion name tags, and we move on to the next group of attendees, headlined by "Pill Popping Suburban Housewife" and a man speaking in a foreign tongue who turns out to be "Wise-Cracking Convenience Store Owner."
A change of venue returns us to the sign-in desk, with the "Hooker" greeting guests. "You’re not here," she says, telling a woman seeking admittance that there’s no badge for her as a confirmed registrant. After some back-and-forth banter-and double-checking of the attendee list-the "Hooker" finally states, "Listen sister, this is a film festival. We don’t really need a "Happy Ending." The upset woman, a.k.a. "Happy Ending," is whisked away.
A super fills the screen: "See who makes it this year." This is followed by a super which showcases the Mill Valley Film Festival logo, dates for the event (10/3-13) and a phone number and Web site address for ticket info and purchases.
The trailer ends with the two original characters—"Mysterious Stranger" and
"Hooker"—in the heat of unbridled passion while shoehorned into a phone booth.
The HHCC team included creative directors Rob Bagot and Terry Rietta, art director Lauren Harwell, copywriter Paul Johnson and producers Brian Sweeney and Karena Dacker.
Entitled "Happy Ending," the trailer-which has also been cut down to run as a :60 and in several :30 versions as part of the overall "Hello … My Name Is" campaign—was shot on location at the site of the shuttered Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, by DP Jo Willems.
The editor was Dave Becker of FilmCore San Francisco. The colorist was Stephen Nakamura of Technique, San Francisco. Vance Walden of One Union Recording Studios, San Francisco, served as audio mixer. Stock music was provided by Kaleidosound, San Francisco.
Principal actors in this spot were: Danielle Weeks, Juan C. Salzarbitoria, Lisa Simms, Dustion Sorg, Sonya J. Eddy, Alfonso Freeman, Iqbal Theba, Brendan I. Hill and Sarah Rush. The SAG/AFTRA Commercials Contract Standing Committee has granted a waiver to allow commercials to be available for viewing on SHOOTonline.com. The spots cannot be copied, downloaded or emailed.
