By Robert Goldrich
Let’s face it. Despite our boyhood dreams, many of us aren’t cut out to be athletes. Even recreational pursuits can be challenging, much less breaking into the ranks of professional sports.
In this spot, a would-be weekend athlete not only isn’t very good but also is a danger to those around him. First we see his prowess on the tennis court, playing mixed doubles. He serves and the ball hits his female partner at the net right in the head.
We move onto foosball. With one twist of the rod handle, the ball flies toward his opponent, striking him in the eye.
Bowling? Don’t ask. He lets go on his backswing and the ball sails backwards, knocking out cold a man seated at the scorer’s table.
Predictably, billiards offers much of the same. The cue stick kisses a ball, causing it to carom into the eye of his opposing player.
Sportscaster Sam Rosen’s voiceover asks, “Like to win? Not very good at it? Play Max A Million, the new instant game from the New York Lottery.”
The :30 ends with a man picking up darts in a bar, asking if anyone would like to play. Instead, all the bar patrons run for cover.
Bruce Hurwit of Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago, directed the spot for DDB New York.
The DDB creative team consisted of: Lee Garfinkel, chairman/chief creative officer, New York; Scott Grayson, creative director/copywriter; Rich Sharp, creative director/art director; Bob Nelson, director of broadcast production; Walter Brindak, executive producer; and Stephanie Whitehead, producer.
Carole Hughes executive produced for Crossroads, with Carla Tate serving as producer. The :30 was shot on location in New York by DP Manuel Ruiz.
Editor/sound designer was Clayton Hemmert of Crew Cuts, New York. Michelle Bellass produced for Crew Cuts. Tim Masick of Company 3, New York, was the colorist. Peter Flack of Buzz, New York, was online editor. Buzz’s Michael Marinelli was the audio mixer.Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer โ but not the trigger โ and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More