Director David Preizler of Epoch Films, bicoastal and London, is no stranger to the spotlight. He gained inclusion in SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase in 2003. The next year, he was part of the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase. His work has garnered assorted awards, including a Gold Clio, and recognition at the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show in the student commercial category (Speedo’s “Aquaman”).
Preizler’s latest coup paradoxically dates back to the early stages of his directorial career. An Epoch-produced spec spot he directed in September ’04 via Young & Rubicam, Chicago, has been bought by client Miller Lite for air, with the debut date yet to be determined. The commercial, “Runaway Fridge,” was based on a concept from a creative team at Young & Rubicam, Chicago, consisting of chief creative officer Mark Figliulo, creative director Dave Loew, copywriter Tohru Oyasu, art director Jon Wyville, director of broadcast production Matt Bijarchi, and producer David Fisher.
The premise involves the classic love affair that’s gone badly. But in this case, the relationship is between a man and his refrigerator. Indeed hell hath no fury like a fridge scorned. And the scorn comes in the form of the man electing to put a case of nondescript light beer in the refrigerator late one night. He then goes to bed only to awaken the next morning to find that his fridge has deserted him, leaving behind the light beer.
Hurt and bewildered (now he knows how his refrigerator feels), the man heads out the door to find his fridge. The trail takes him to a bus driver to whom he shows a photo of the refrigerator. Indeed the fridge had taken an express bus to the big city. We later see the fridge being harassed by a baton-wielding police officer for loitering.
The young man is relentless in the pursuit of his dearly departed fridge. He posts “Have you seen this fridge” signs all over town. Late into the night, he happens upon a streetwise female hooker who gestures down the sidewalk to the fridge. The man has finally caught up with his cool companion–but now the refrigerator is working a corner, in front of a theater playing a double feature, The Ice Box and Midnight Snack. A potential fridge/hooker customer appears to be negotiating a deal when the refrigerator owner intervenes, shooing the would-be customer away.
Seeing the error of his ways, the young man presents his beloved fridge with a case of Miller Lite. All is forgiven and man and fridge are reunited. They head back home together. A parting super reads, “Good Call,” which is Miller Lite’s longstanding slogan.
At press time, Preizler was in India on a shoot. He and Epoch were gratified to see “Runaway Fridge” get picked up for real-world airtime. Even a token run would qualify the spot for awards consideration.
The refrigerator theme in beer advertising gained a high profile earlier this year with the Super Bowl telecast debut of “Secret Fridge” for Bud Light. Directed by David McNally of bicoastal Villains for DDB Chicago, “Secret Fridge” scored the top slot in the USA Today Super Bowl commercials poll. The ad shows a guy stocking his fridge with Bud Light. When his friend sees the stash, he expresses concern that their buddies–who are coming over to watch the Big Game–will drink all the beer. That’s when the first guy proudly shows off his solution to the problem: a revolving fridge that hides the Bud Light. What the pair doesn’t realize is that when the refrigerator revolves, it ends up in another apartment populated by a bunch of guys who worship the beer-bestowing appliance. The spot ends with the more-than-grateful Bud Light recipients ritually bowing down and chanting, “Magic fridge, magic fridge.”
Ironically the refrigerator-centric concept of “Runaway Fridge” preceded that of this year’s popular “Secret Fridge.” But the Preizler-directed spec spot has finally been thawed out of deep freeze with airtime in the offing.
Epoch’s Mindy Goldberg and Jerry Solomon executive produced the commercial, with Anita Wetterstedt serving as producer. The DP was Eric Schmidt.
Matthew Wood of The Whitehouse, Chicago, edited the spot. Sue Dawson produced for The Whitehouse. Dave Gerbosi of Chicago Recording Company was the audio post mixer/sound designer. Music house was Human, New York. Visual effects house was Ring of Fire, West Hollywood, with John Myers serving as executive producer and Jerry Spivack as creative director. Principal actors were Joe Eggender, Jesse Goins and Julia Young.
Martin Scorsese On “The Saints,” Faith In Filmmaking and His Next Movie
When Martin Scorsese was a child growing up in New York's Little Italy, he would gaze up at the figures he saw around St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. "Who are these people? What is a saint?" Scorsese recalls. "The minute I walk out the door of the cathedral and I don't see any saints. I saw people trying to behave well within a world that was very primal and oppressed by organized crime. As a child, you wonder about the saints: Are they human?" For decades, Scorsese has pondered a project dedicated to the saints. Now, he's finally realized it in "Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints," an eight-part docudrama series debuting Sunday on Fox Nation, the streaming service from Fox News Media. The one-hour episodes, written by Kent Jones and directed by Elizabeth Chomko, each chronicle a saint: Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene, Moses the Black, Sebastian and Maximillian Kolbe. Joan of Arc kicks off the series on Sunday, with three weekly installments to follow; the last four will stream closer to Easter next year. In naturalistic reenactments followed by brief Scorsese-led discussions with experts, "The Saints" emphasizes that, yes, the saints were very human. They were flawed, imperfect people, which, to Scorsese, only heightens their great sacrifices and gestures of compassion. The Polish priest Kolbe, for example, helped spread antisemitism before, during WWII, sheltering Jews and, ultimately, volunteering to die in the place of a man who had been condemned at Auschwitz. Scorsese, who turns 82 on Sunday, recently met for an interview not long after returning from a trip to his grandfather's hometown in Sicily. He was made an honorary citizen and the experience was still lingering in his mind. Remarks have... Read More