THE REEL TRUTH AT CANNES Makers of Last Year's Excoriating Parody Are Back June 21, 2001 By Jim Hanas CANNES (Creativity) -- Fans of para-advertising ephemera will be sorry they missed the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors' Showcase Wednesday. Scenes from Truth in Advertising. Among the highlights was the return of the duo behind Truth In Advertising, a short parody film that became a viral sensation within the industry last fall. Truth features standard agency machinations, but with the editing turned off. Everyone says exactly what's on their minds, and it rings so true it hurts. For the intro and outro for the New Directors' Showcase, director/co-writer Tim Hamilton of Toronto-based Avion Films and writer David Chiavegato of Palmer Jarvis DDB turned their lenses on the world of commercials directing. Bitch-slapped The Reel Truth peeks in on the career of Tom, a young director besieged by agency creatives. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be bitch-slapped in front of everybody," he says matter-of-factly. "I really like your look," one creative replies to the slacker auteur. "It makes it easier for me to treat you like a small child." Then the client chimes in: "I was wondering how myself and the agency could rip you apart." Not that Tom is entirely innocent. "For this next shot I was thinking about stringing together some film school terms that I have floating around in my head, if that's OK with you," he tells the director of photography. Like The Reel Truth, Truth In Advertising began as an award show amusement. Commissioned for a show sponsored by Marketing magazine in Canada, it quickly turned into an online sensation. So much so that online use of the film drew legal fire from the actors involved. The Reel Truth does not appear to be available on Avions' Web site or on the site of Mr. Hamilton's U.S. rep, Zooma Zooma. The 'fake' Cannes The sharpest barb in the sequel comes when news arrives that the young director has been chosen to have his work shown at Cannes. "Wow. The film festival?" asks one of the creatives. "No. The fake Cannes. The advertising awards," comes the reply, which brought yesterday's crowd to a roar. But Mr. Hamilton and Chiavegato can afford to be snarky. Truth In Advertising was short-listed at Cannes. The real Cannes. New blood The New Directors' Showcase proper was not without crowd pleasers. Items familiar to U.S. audiences included director Chris Smith's work with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for TiVo and Pac Bell; Geoff McFetridge's ghoulish animations for Wieden & Kennedy's X Games campaign; and Sean Mullens' seedy Girl Talk for Nintendo via Leo Burnett/Chicago. Other selections ranged from the surreal digital animations of Antoine Deschamps and Yovann LeBlanc of France's Wanda Productions to the self-deprecating patter of RSA/Top Dog's Casey Affleck. But a solid concept is still what it takes to please the crowd. A Pepsi spot from Anonymous' Pat Sherman featured a little boy who buys one Coke from a vending machine. Then another. Then he stands on them so he's tall enough to reach the Pepsi button. Another Chris Smith commercial, this one for the Toyota Celica, showed a dog chasing, and running straight into, a parked car. The tagline: "Looks fast." Both were awarded with generous applause from the crowd. Jim Hanas is associate editor of Creativity magazine. © 2001, Crain Communications Inc. Editor@AdAge.com ..