By Christine Champagne
Mr. Moviefone’s booming voice has been satirized on TV shows like Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Late Show With David Letterman. Now, the creative team at Crispin Porter+Bogusky (CP+B), Miami, is having fun with it in a new spot for Moviefone.com called "Robot" that is running both in movie theaters and on television. Directed by Dayton/Faris—Jonathan and Valerie, respectively—of bicoastal Bob Industries, the clever :30 takes us back in time and shows us how difficult it was for Moviefone president Russell Leatherman, the voice of Mr. Moviefone, to grow up sounding like that.
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CLIENT
Moviefone.
PRODUCTION CO.
Bob Industries, bicoastal.
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, directors; Lance Acord, DP; T.K. Knowles, John O’Grady and Chuck Ryant, executive producers; Bart Lipton, producer. Shot on location in Los Angeles.
AGENCY
Crispin, Porter+Bogusky, Miami.
Alex Bogusky, executive creative director; Alex Burnard and Mike del Marmol, art directors; Dave Schiff, copywriter; David Rolfe, head of production/senior producer.
EDITORIAL
The Whitehouse, Santa Monica.
Rick Lawley, editor; Cory Livingston, assistant editor; Lara Pilla, producer.
POST/VISUAL EFFECTS
Company 3, Santa Monica.
Stefan Sonnenfeld, colorist; Missy Papageorge, producer.
R!OT, Santa Monica.
Jason Frank, online editor/visual effects compositor; Lesley Robson-Foster, visual effects supervisor; D. Todd Davidovich, executive producer/producer.
Ascent Media Labs, Burbank, Calif.
Matt McFarland, digital imaging manager.
AUDIO POST
POP Sound, Santa Monica.
Loren Silber, mixer; Samuel Casas, assistant mixer.
MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN
stimmüng, Santa Monica.
Jason Johnson, composer; Gus Koven, sound designer; Michael Baird, assistant sound designer; Ceinwyn Clark, executive producer.
Steve McQueen Shows Wartime London Through A Child’s Eyes In “Blitz”
It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make "Blitz." As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. Reminders of it are everywhere. But the spark of inspiration came from an image of a small boy on a train platform with a large suitcase. Stories inspired by the evacuation are not rare, but this child was Black. Who was he, McQueen wondered, and what was his story? The film, in theaters Friday and streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, tells the tale of George, a 9-year-old biracial child in East London whose life with his mother, Rita ( Saoirse Ronan ), and grandfather is upended by the war. Like many children at the time, he's put on a train to the countryside for his safety. But he hops off and starts a long, dangerous journey back to his mom, encountering all sorts of people and situations that paint a revelatory and emotional picture of that moment. SEARCHING FOR GEORGE AND FINDING A STAR When McQueen finished the screenplay, he thought to himself: "Not bad." Then he started to worry: Does George exist? Is there a person out there who can play this role? Through an open casting call they found Elliott Heffernan, a 9-year-old living just outside of London whose only experience was a school play. He was the genie in "Aladdin." "There was a stillness about him, a real silent movie star quality," McQueen said. "You wanted to know what he was thinking, and you leant in. That's a movie star quality: A presence in his absence." Elliott is now 11. When he was cast, he'd not yet heard about the evacuation and imagined that a film set would be made up of "about 100 people." But he soon found his footing, cycling in and out of... Read More