Working with Toronto's MacLaren McCann, Nicks put together spots inspired by A Hard Day's Night, with customer service reps from Rogers AT&T filling the shoes of The Beatles. Filmed in black and white by DP André Pienaar, Nicks says the spots drew from the Richard Lester aesthetic (with definite nods to the film's trailer as seen on the DVD release).

"I like the idea of people running around, and there were non sequiturs in terms of people going in one door and coming out anywhere else you want them to. With the running and jumping, they are just really fun to watch," says Nicks. "The ridiculousness of the whole thing kind of made it that much better."

Nicks incorporated sales points via the protagonists, who were cast in no small part for their ability to deliver information in a deadpan, direct-to-camera manner. Blending this with scenes of hordes of screaming, admiring fans and cutthroat fanatics sniffing pens and climbing fire escapes brought the slight scent of cheese Nicks wanted to incorporate. In terms of the shoot, Nicks made a point of not using modern camera gear such as a Steadicam.

"We made everything hand-held and found beautiful architectural details that could be locked off and then have all the action run through," says Nicks. "We did some stuff on wheelchairs and things like that which would take the place of a Steadicam, but gave it more of that film school, London in 1964 aesthetic."

The chaos factor was definitely key to the campaign. Plentiful stage directions have people running hither and thither across a tilted camera field. In every running sequence there is at least one person who stumbles and falls, another nod to the Lester classic. Nicks and stylish stylist Jennifer Levy had good things to say about working in the T-dot.

"People in Los Angeles said it would be bleak, but I got here and I really loved all the costume places. It was so organized and neat that there were like 20 people there to help you," says Levy. Nicks chimes in:

"Everyone knows there is a lot of production up in Canada and its quality, especially the crews. It's a very viable option, although everybody tries to scare you by saying, 'you know there are 25 productions and only five good crews in Toronto.' I would love to come and work some more up here. It's a totally workable city and the people are nice. Everything's up here and the knowledge of the people, well there was just zero fear factor."

Webfiles>

Blink Pictures> www.blinkpictures.com

MacLaren McCann> www.maclaren.com