The Las Vegas strip provides the backdrop. Gary Oldman stars as Satan. Soul legend James Brown plays himself. Marilyn Manson makes a cameo. And the BMW Z4 delivers one wild ride. In the words of director Tony Scott, "It’s going to be like doing crystal meth for eight minutes."
Scott is talking about his upcoming short film Beat The Devil. Created by Fallon Minneapolis, and produced by bicoastal RSA USA for BMW of North America, Devil is one of three new installments in the carmaker’s Web-based short film series The Hire. The new work also comprises Hostage, directed by John Woo, and Ticker, helmed by Joe Carnahan. Plans call for the shorts to be distributed in cinemas, on DVD and at bmwfilms.com. As well, teaser TV spots will direct viewers to the Web site. Hostage is slated for release on Oct. 24, with the others rolling out shortly thereafter.
Scott’s film—written by Greg Hahn and David Carter, copywriter and art director, respectively, at Fallon, and independent screenwriter Vincent Ngo—is loosely based on the legend of blues musician Robert Johnson. As the story goes, Johnson sold his soul to Satan in exchange for his musical talent. Devil assumes that James Brown made a similar pact decades ago, and now wants to renegotiate. As Scott puts it, "Their deal didn’t account for the aging process, and James complains that he can’t do splits any more."
So Brown tracks Satan down at a derelict Las Vegas hotel casino. By nature a gambling man, the Devil suggests a wager: Brown will get a second lease on life if he can beat Satan in a drag race through the Vegas strip. Tough-looking character actor Danny Trejo drives the Devil’s muscle car; Brown rides in the Z4 with Clive Owen, who plays the skilled chauffeur in all the BMW films.
Scott describes Devil as "funny, dark and dangerous. The sense of humor comes out of the outrageousness of it." In that way, he says, it’s comparable to his feature True Romance, but adds, "mainly I stole from a [1970] movie called Performance. I always steal, but as long as you move it on and it’s different, the audience won’t recognize it."
Cinematographer Paul Cameron (Swordfish) shot Devil over six days on location in Las Vegas, as well as at the Alexandria Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The race sequences required that the busy casino strip be shut down for a night.
Skip Chaisson, who has cut trailers for many of Scott’s features, including Crimson Tide, edited Devil. "Skip has become an important ingredient [in my work]," notes Scott, adding that Devil is noteworthy in that it brings together professionals from three disciplines: commercials, features and trailers.
Scott’s repertoire spans both the long and short format: agency creatives and a screenwriter wrote the script, and as for Chaisson, he brings "a different momentum, speed and energy in terms of telling a story," according to the director. "Trailers are longer [than commercials]—two to four minutes—but there’s a lot of information in a short time. It’s almost a different medium [than features or spots]."
Crossover
And for Scott, who also directed Enemy of the State and Top Gun, the blending of genres in projects such as the BMW series is ideal. "I’m surprised this hasn’t happened before now to advertising," relates Scott, who directs spots out RSA USA, the production company he co-owns with his brother, director Ridley Scott. "I think this could be the way of the future—whether it’s for a year or ten years—this approach that’s a split between commercials and films."
Regardless of how the so-called advertainment trend pans out, the director plans to continue working in various formats. His most recent film, Spy Game, was released last fall, and since that time he has been active in spots. "I was going to do [a biopic about Mexican revolutionary] Pancho Villa, but the script isn’t quite there yet, so I’ve been doing commercials," he says.
Among his most recent spot endeavors are a five-spot Buick campaign out of McCann-Erickson, Detroit, Troy, Mich., and a Johnnie Walker ad via Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), London. The latter, entitled "Scorsese," features Martin Scorsese talking stream-of-consciousness style about his film career. Interspersed with that footage are images reminiscent of the legendary director’s boyhood in New York, and scenes from his movie Taxi Driver. At the end of the ad, Scorsese concludes that not everything in his life has gone according to plan, but "luckily life is like film. You get more than one shot at it." The tag: "Johnnie Walker. Keep walking."
"Scorsese is my hero from way back," relates Scott, "so I was a little intimidated. But I had very specific ideas. He knew my movies a little bit, but he looked at the other commercials I’ve done and said, ‘Cool.’ He trusted and just went with me."
Meanwhile, Scott’s Buick package—comprising the spots "Tiger Vs. History," "Haunted Test Track," "Ghost in the Garage," "Driving Mr. Earl," and "Car of the Future"—resurrects the legendary car designer Harley Earl, who tells viewers that his spirit has survived in the Buick brand. Two of the ads also feature Tiger Woods. Scott’s other commercial credits include ads for Barclay’s Bank, United Airlines, Italian Telecom, Marlboro, Oldsmobile, Holiday Inn and Agilent Technologies.
Currently, Scott is prepping his next feature, Man on Fire. Based on the book of the same name by A.J. Quinnell, it tells the true story of a semi-retired CIA agent hired to protect a little girl. When the girl is kidnapped and later killed by her captors, the bodyguard goes after the bad guys, one of which turns out to be the girl’s father. Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) wrote the script. "It’s a tough movie," Scott notes. "It’s a very unforgiving story and an emotionally driven piece."
He is close to casting Man on Fire, and plans to direct one more commercial before going into production. "Between movies I do commercials, and I love it," he says. "It’s great to mix and match. A lot of feature directors wait around for the next film. But doing commercials puts you in the position to say ‘I’m not going to do this shitty [feature] script. I’m going to wait for something better.’ "n
