‘Where’s Fawcett? He was supposed to be here for a screening at two.’ Producer Michael Rosen is making a string of phone calls from his office at Toronto commercial production house Hoodoo Films when director John Fawcett rushes in, clad in t-shirt, shorts and sandals.

‘Aha,’ laughs Rosen gleefully. ‘Never mind. There he is now. I had calls out all over the city for you.’ Fawcett looks sheepishly at his watch. ‘I’m usually on time.’

And time is of the essence. Fawcett and Rosen are meeting to look at a cut of the promos they are working on for the Toronto International Film Festival. The 30-second teaser, set to air throughout July and August in cinemas across Canada, is picture-locked but not mixed with the digital effects that will create the background. The 60-second trailer will be shown before each film at the festival and won’t be completed until mid-August.

Fawcett directed and Rosen produced the spots at Hoodoo, with Toronto’s production community donating time and resources to the project. The assignment was through Echo Advertising.

Rosen slides in the tape.

The bright flashes of a theater marquee light up the frenzied scene below – crowds jostling each other to get a better view of glamorous stars peaking their heads out of Rolls-Royces, the whirl and click of cameras, white-gloved valets helping stunningly gowned and bejeweled actresses from their cars, and reporters pushing their way closer to the long line of celebs making their entrances.

The camera returns again and again to an average fan caught up in the swirl of activity. Cut to a shiny black stretch limo. The door opens leisurely. Stargazers and paparazzi crane their necks. Who is it, who is it?

Audiences will have to wait till September to find out what happens next. The payoff, the dramatic finish, to this story-driven spot is reserved for the festival trailer, which continues the story of the fan jostled to the front of the open limo.

The promos capture the glitz and glamour, the excitement and anticipation of the ’30s and ’40s Hollywood gala openings.

But with a twist.

The pillbox hats, the cigar-smoking men wearing fedoras and the old flashbulb cameras are mixed with security guards in high-tech gear, girls donning pvc and fans with pierced noses. The contrasting retro/cyberworld cultures are layered in the unique characters, costumes and images that flick across the screen.

‘That’s what you brought to the storyboards,’ Rosen says to Fawcett. ‘You gave it all those elements. Film diehards have to sit through this spot many times. We want to give them a lot of things to look at, keep their interest.’

‘I wanted to put as much into it as possible to make it durable, to tell a compelling story,’ says Fawcett.

Rosen and Fawcett are excited by what they see, even without the finishing touches of digital effects that will create a futuristic cityscape behind the theater marquee and crowded street.

Rosen is convinced that topnotch performances by lead actor, Avion Films’ Martin Granger, and the over 100 extras is the draw of these trailers.

‘If John wasn’t able to pull off all that performance, all the digital effects in the world couldn’t save it,’ he says. ‘The key is really the successful performances John got out of Martin and all the extras. That’s the meat and potatoes of the spot.’

Fawcett and Rosen burst into laughter, recalling how they weaseled Granger into the audition call.

‘John thought he suited the role so we put him into a casting without telling the agency,’ explains Rosen. ‘Out of however many who auditioned, Martin ended up one of the final two, and one of the agency guys said to us, `There is this really wacky guy in the casting, who the heck is he?’ So we came clean at that point.’

Fawcett checks his watch. He has to head over to Command Post to check out how the digital effects are coming along.

‘Post will make it feel even bigger than watching it now,’ he says. ‘The entire opening will be computer-rendered. It’s a big, panoramic, epic shot. You see a futuristic city with this woman’s face on a Jumbotron, sort of Max Headroomish, and flying things zipping by.’

As Fawcett heads off, Rosen reflects that this project has been a highlight in his production career.

‘It was one of the smoothest shoots I have done and probably the largest one-day events I have ever produced,’ he says of the over 200 members of Toronto’s production community who lent their help. ‘As trite as it may sound, everybody was there because of a love for what we do and because it’s for an event that everyone in this town loves. The spirit was just incredible. Everyone really put out for this promo and it shows.’