Add an M-Tel cell phone with voicemail capabilities to the bag of tricks every successful magician must carry. For without voicemail, the most amazing magic act can be undermined, as demonstrated in "Magician," directed by Boris Damast of Mechaniks, Venice, Calif., for agency DMB, Vienna.
"Magician" takes us to a theater where Astor, Bulgaria’s celebrity magician, is performing his wondrous levitation of a woman. The tongue-in-cheek spot shows the female suspended in mid-air, seemingly held up only by Astor’s mysterious powers. Also on hand are the awe-struck audience, the obligatory magician’s assistant and a lounge lizard-type pianist providing musical accompaniment.
But perfection in prestidigitation is fleeting. Astor’s cell phone rings, and not wanting to miss a potentially important call, he answers it. Tending to his phone breaks Astor’s concentration, which causes the levitated woman to fall to the stage floor with a thud.
An end tag observes, "Where would you be without voicemail?," accompanied by the M-Tel logo.
"Magician" is one of five spots in what’s billed as one of the biggest TV ad campaigns filmed expressly for the Bulgarian market. Among the other commercials are "Shower" and "Bar." In the latter, a man at a local pub leaves a message on his cell phone’s voicemail. He then proceeds to get stinking drunk. Hours later, he staggers out of the bar and gets put in a cab, where it’s clear from his indiscernible mutterings that he’s in no condition to tell the cabbie where he lives. However, the inebriated man does remember one thing—to call his voicemail and hand the phone to the cabbie. The cab driver listens and hears the message that the man recorded early, which contains directions to his house.
And in "Shower," an attractive young woman cannot take a shower in uninterrupted peace. Whenever she steps into the shower, her cell phone rings, prompting her to get out and answer the phone. The third time this happens, we see the reason why. Three boys across the way are getting an eyeful of the naked woman as she passes an open window.
Damast helmed the campaign via SIA Advertising/ Productions, Sofia, Bulgaria. The job was done in conjunction with Mechaniks. Andrea Kikot executive produced for Mechaniks. Dimita Gochev and Stela Pavlova served as executive producer and producer, respectively, for Sia. The DP was Andreas Berger, who shot "Magician" at Sofia’s Dali Theatre.
The creative team at DMB consisted of creative director Joachim Glawion, art director Francesco Bestagno and producer Maresi McNab.
Postproduction was done at SIA with Munich, Germany-based freelancer Florian Hoger serving as editor. Busty Music, Sofia, completed the audio mix and sound design.
