Revolver Films has split the commercial and music video components of its business to handle each area of work separately.

The music video portion of Revolver is operating under the The Partners’ Film Company banner, with Allan Weinrib as executive producer of music videos. The commercial side of Revolver is headed by Tom McLean and Dan Ford.

Efforts have been made to undertake a name and/or location change for one of the divisions, but at present the companies continue to run with their current name and address.

Revolver has recently undertaken initiatives to bolster its commercial resources and higher-end profile, including the signing of Palomar Pictures with which Revolver recently undertook a job for Dentyne in l.a.

*Y’all come back?

Perhaps it’s coincidence or maybe several commercial production types just happen to bear a strong resemblance to underworld figures, but traveling across the border to the u.s. for legitimate Canadian spot work is reported to be increasingly difficult these days.

There have been a number of instances of Customs officials exercising their discretionary powers to stop agency personnel and producers from entering the States to supervise jobs or parts of jobs being shot there for Canadian companies. It’s happened to Partners’ twice lately, as well as to Blink Pictures.

A common practise if for freelance producers present a letter from the production company involved detailing what their business is stateside, but this is no guarantee against being turned away at the border.

Perhaps an ‘I hate C-55’ T-shirt would work better.

*T/MD adds the garnish

TOPIX/Mad Dog artists make a hot dog smile, tacos clap and peas dance off their plate as part of a 23-spot campaign for Pepsi through bbdo, Mexico.

The spots, which have hit Mexican and South American airwaves, are mostly :10s and :15s, and all share the same theme: the meal is not complete and the food not happy unless there is a Pepsi to wash it down.

t/md handled the animation on six of the spots and completed special effects/conforms on four.

Revolver Films director/dop Derek Case shot the plates of food over six days in Mexico.

‘Pollo’ (Spanish for chicken) features a plate of food with peas on the side. When a can of Pepsi is put on the table the peas form a thought bubble over the poultry and dance off the plate to form the famous circular logo.

Real wholesome green peas were originally used for lighting reference then later replaced with cg peas and animated in Softimage, as were a Pepsi-grabbing pizza and spaghetti that forms a lasso.

Livio Passera was animation director and Mark Ainslie, Bryan Huo and Dean Warren were 3D animators. Susan Armstrong, Patrick Coffey and Frank Russo handled special effects. Executive producer was Sylvain Taillon and Diana D’Amelio produced.

*Imported reps RSA/USA

Imported Artists Film Company is representing Ridley and Tony Scott’s l.a.- and New York-based RSA/USA directors in the Canadian commercial market.

The newly acquired roster includes Tom Dey (set to shoot Jackie Chan’s upcoming feature Shanghai Noon), David Dobkin (Clay Pigeons), Thom Higgins, director/dop Hugh Johnson, Marek Kanievska (Less Than Zero), Marcus Nispel (Pepsi, Coke, Nike), Jake Scott (just completed his first feature, Plunkett & Macleane, starring Liv Tyler), Jordan Scott, Luke Scott, Randy St. Nicholas, Spenser Susser, Allan Van Rijn and Chris Cunningham.

*Damast wraps feature

After an eight-week l.a. shoot on feature film Pros & Cons, Angel Films director Boris Damast is back home in Toronto and getting back into the commercial swing of things with a one-day job, the details of which are still under wraps.

Pros & Cons is a jailhouse comedy starring Larry Miller, Tommy Davidson and Delroy Lindo, with Jerry Seinfeld putting in a cameo appearance.

*Comings and goings

* After 20 years as an art director, and a solo stint, former MacLaren McCann copywriter and vp group creative director Randy Diplock has taken a spot on the roster at Apple Box Productions.

Diplock’s first foray into directing was with a Silver Bessie-winning campaign for Sony Walkman/Discman.

* Director David Storey has left Mad Films for a spot on The Players Film Company roster.

* L.T.B. Productions has signed Miami-based director Alex Ferrari.

* International Shooters has picked up directors Brad Christian, Ian MacDonald, Charlie Watson, Clark Anderson and Jerry Simpson in addition to a new sales rep/executive producer, Lisa Whittall, formerly of Imported Artists.

* Directors Geoff McGann and Jeff Mishler are the newest additions to the roster at Sparks Productions. The two u.s. directors recently joined u.s. film company Manifesto, which is repped in Canada by Sparks.

Off the Sparks roster are Baillie Walsh and Scott Kalvert.

* Spin Productions has further fortified its design team with the addition of designer and effects compositor Craig Small and designer Stephanie Dudley.

Small was previously with The Daily Post and recent credits include the Neo Citran ‘Big Baby’ spot shot out of Sparks. Dudley previously at Cuppa Coffee and ytv.

*Clarification

The Eastern Ave. studio mentioned in the Jan. 25 Word is intended to be operated as a co-op venture, though no deals have been executed to that end as yet. Keith McCully of Handmade Sets and Handmade Studios is in charge of running the new studio facility. McCully selected the building and has developed the facility over the past several months.