Initially, this ad smacks of a PSA addressing child or spousal abuse. It opens on a young boy who seems to have taken refuge in a dimly lit room, as we hear a heated argument between a man and a woman who are speaking in French, leading to our assumption that the boy’s parents are in the middle of a bitter domestic quarrel.
Sitting at a table, the boy busies himself with an art project, apparently as a means to divert himself from the escalating tension between the adults. As the youngster quietly cuts a sheet of cardboard, we hear the crash of a dinner plate in the background.
Then the boy hops off his chair and heads toward the window, where it’s revealed that the people arguing are not his parents, but his neighbors. The boy tapes the cardboard cutout to the pane to create a TV screen, opens the window so that he can hear better, grabs a bowl of popcorn and takes a seat. As the neighboring couple continues their fight, the boy chomps on his popcorn, sits back and enjoys his homemade movie.
But it’s a movie with a happy ending as the man and woman make up and hug in the end. A tagline reads, "Life. Only Larger," at which point we see the logo for the Minneapolis/St. Paul International 2003 Film Festival.
This trailer debuted during the opening night of the film fest in April, and played throughout the 15-day event. "Letterbox" was directed and shot by Rich Michell of Twist, Minneapolis. Jim Geib executive produced and Dave Bellmont served as producer for Twist.
Agency was Campbell-Mithun, Minneapolis. The core creative team consisted of copywriter Joe Stefanson and art director Monty Pera.
Brian Slater and Mark Youngren of Fischer, Minneapolis, served as editor and online editor/visual effects artist, respectively. Executive producer was company owner, Tony Fischer, who also owns and executive produced for Modern Music, Minneapolis. Modern Music’s contributors were composer/sound designer/audio mixer Daron Walker, creative director Rick Meyer and producer Jess Ford. The colorist was Oscar Oboza of Hi-Wire, Minneapolis.
The principal actors in this spot were Vinni Lettieri, Brent Doyle and Sandra Struthers. 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 e-mailed.
