By Robert Goldrich
If not golden, silence is at least attention getting in this :30 for New York’s nonprofit Citymeals-on-Wheels, out of Urban Advertising, New York. Indeed a minimalist approach–a virtual still life with nary a sound–stands out in sharp contrast to the spot clatter clamoring for viewers.
The PSA consists of one shot–an elderly woman seated at a kitchen table, her right hand holding onto a walking cane. The strategy is simply to show the isolation and loneliness that many homebound senior citizens endure daily.
“When you’re constantly being hit with hop-hop thumping commercials and Donald Trump barking catch-phrases, there is nothing quite as disruptive as silence,” said Urban writer Jeff Lang, who conceived the spot along with art director Ellen Dedman.
“Our goal was to disturb viewers a little bit, in a way they’re not immune to,” said Dedman.
“The spot is only thirty seconds long but it feels endless, which is precisely the aspect of these people’s lives that we wanted to capture said Mitchell Goldman of Finally Famous Films, New York, who directed the piece.
A voiceover by actress Kathleen Turner finally breaks the spot silence. A member of the Citymeals-on-Wheels board, Turner says of the old woman on camera, “There are 86,400 seconds in her day. These are only thirty of them. Help Citymeals-on-Wheels make sure that New York’s homebound elderly aren’t left hungry and alone.”
Citymeals hopes to gain local airtime and is exploring cinema exposure for “Silence.”
The Urban team consisted of creative director Bernard Urban, writer Lang, art director Dedman and producer Sherri Hollander.
Hillary Cutter produced for Finally Famous Films. The DP was Robert Omer. Production designer was Justine Simonson. The woman on camera was Paddy Croft.
Richard Rosenbaum of Convergence, New York, edited the spot, with Bryce Leysath serving as assistant editor. Kristin McQuillan produced for Convergence. The colorist was Ron Sudel of Nice Shoes, New York. Anthony Erice of Tonic, New York, was the audio mixer. Tonic’s Jun Mizumachi was the sound designer.After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More