An Audi Q7 SUV whisks its way along a road in the midst of a winter wonderland. The snow covered thoroughfare runs through the middle of a forest and is littered with pine needles.
The vehicle propels the needles along, eventually leaving behind a trail of them in its speedy wake. But it’s not until the SUV arrives at its destination, a stately house decorated in holiday trimmings, that we have the proper context for the needles. The camera reveals what are the remains of an Xmas tree tied to the Q7’s roof, its branches stripped bare by the vehicles aerodynamic voyage.
“Needles” was directed by Douglas Avery of bicoastal Furlined for Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco.
The agency team consisted of creative directors Paul Venables and Greg Bell, associate creative director Eric Liebhauser, art director Greg Wyatt, copywriter Mary Hernandez, director of broadcast production Craig Allen and producer Tamsin Prigge.
Avery’s support team at Furlined included managing director Diane McArter, executive producers Matt Factor and David Thorne, head of production Earl McDaniel and producer Matt Caltabiano. DP Toby Irwin shot the last scene of the vehicle pulling up to the house while DP Pascal Lebeque lensed the driving footage.
Editor was Bob Frisk of Phoenix Editorial and Designs, San Francisco. The rest of the Phoenix contingent included exec producer Jonathan Hinman, design creative director/motion graphics designer Matt Silverman, motion graphic designer/VFX artist Bobby Van Dyke, and VFX artist/online editor John Crossley.
“One of Them Days” and “Mufasa: The Lion King” In Tight Race For Top Spot In Weekend Box Office
The Keke Palmer buddy comedy "One of Them Days" opened in first place on the North American box office charts on a particularly slow Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
The R-rated Sony release earned $11.6 million from 2,675 theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, beating Disney's "Mufasa: The Lion King" by a hair. By the end of Monday's holiday, "Mufasa" will have the edge, however.
"One of Them Days" cost only $14 million to produce, which it is expected to earn by Monday. The very well-reviewed buddy comedy stars Palmer and SZA as friends and roommates scrambling to get money for rent before their landlord evicts them. Notably it's the first Black female-led theatrical comedy since "Girls Trip" came out in 2017 and it currently carries a stellar 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But the marketplace was also quite weak overall. The total box office for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will add up to less than $80 million, according to data from Comscore, making it one of the worst Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends since 1997.
"For an individual film like 'One of Them Days' this was a great weekend," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "You can still find success stories within what is overall a low grossing weekend for movie theaters."
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa" was close by in second place with $11.5 million from the weekend, its fifth playing in theaters. Globally, the Barry Jenkins-directed prequel has made $588 million. It even beat a brand-new offering, the Blumhouse horror "Wolf Man," which debuted in third place with $10.6 million from 3,354 North American theaters.
Writer-director Leigh Whannell's monster tale starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner did not enter... Read More