The Shack we know in the Canadian commercial production industry isn’t an NBA star. That being said, Shack, aka Generator Films director Steve Shackleton, did have the opportunity to go one-on-one with Toronto Raptor Morris Peterson during a three-day ad shoot for the City of Toronto.

Shackleton also managed to shoot Toronto Blue Jay Raul Mondesi, local radio personalities Roger, Rick and Marilyn, talk show host Mike Bullard and Toronto’s outspoken (to say the least) mayor, Mel Lastman, among others.

‘I had a feeling that it would be a good project and a very collaborative project,’ says Shackleton on location at Christie Pits Park. ‘When I found out who was involved, that put even more icing on the cake.’

With creative from the Padulo Integrated team of copywriter Dan Yurman and art director Aaron Kwapisinski, the spot encourages Torontonians to keep their city clean by doing ‘The T.O. Toss.’ Toronto is widely regarded as one of the cleanest cities in the world, and the spot’s purpose is to celebrate the fact and remind people to keep up the good work.

Yurman explains the spot’s genesis: ‘We were coming back from lunch one day and we started talking about what if the garbage went to everybody? What if it transcended time and space and went to everybody? From that moment everything fell into place.’

Despite the big-name talent, the real star of Shackleton’s commercial is a hot dog wrapper. The ad starts with Bullard crumpling up the wrapper and tossing it aside. It is caught by local sports reporter Kathryn Humphreys, who hands it off to Peterson for the dunk. From there it is hit out of the park by Mondesi, goes whizzing by the heads of Roger, Rick and Marilyn, who are in mid-morning broadcast; and on and on until it is picked up by Mayor Mel. Dressed as a garbage man, Lastman picks up the wrapper, tosses it into a garbage can and dumps it into a truck.

Art director Kwapisinski says every Torontonian can relate to at least one of the spot’s stars.

‘They each appeal to a different target – the younger generation, our generation [the twenty- and thirtysomethings] and the older generation,’ he says. ‘We’ve got Roger, Rick and Marilyn, which represents a certain demographic; the Mirvishes [David and Honest Ed], who represent another demographic; Morris Peterson and Katherine Humphreys, who represent another one. Hopefully, people will think, ‘Well, they do it, I can relate to them because these are people I look up to.’ ‘

Shackleton says he was most excited to meet Lastman, especially in a situation where he could tell the mayor what to do.

‘How many other mayors are out there that would get dressed up as a garbage man?’ wonders Shackleton, still waiting for Peterson. ‘They were telling me about some of the personalities who were donating their time for this cause, but I have to be honest: the opportunity to dress up Mayor Mel as a garbage man was the big seller for me.’

According to the spot’s producer, Generator’s Danielle Schwartz, credit for getting the talent to participate goes to Padulo VP, director of broadcast production, Jo-Ann Purser. Purser, who is on set, looks pleased with the way day one of the three-day shoot is going.

‘I’ve really enjoyed working with these guys,’ says Shackleton, who awaits Peterson’s arrival. ‘With some of the personalities we have, we have limited time in our locations, so that offers up a really fun challenge as opposed to being in the studio where you know you have your talent for 12 hours. We have some of our talent for a half-hour.’

A half-hour is a generous prediction. As it turns out, Shackleton and his crew will have a total of eight minutes in the Skydome with Mondesi. Still, he pulled it off, adding to the faith bestowed in him by the creative team.

‘Shack has the director’s eye with the creative person’s mind,’ says Yurman. ‘When he joined the project and we met up with him, for the first time our little group of two became a group of three. He’s a pro and his mind races a mile a minute, so pretty much everything he has brought to it has been so positive. Look out for him in the future.’

Shackleton goes over some last-minute details with DOP Paul Tolton. All are standing by to do the shot.

‘We are ready for our stars to come in,’ says Shackleton. ‘It will be a hand-held shot on the court from the third player’s point of view, just to give it a little bit more energy. We are shooting at 40 frames, so if we have more time or want to cut it into a 10-second bumper, we’ll have some freedom to do it.’

At last, Peterson arrives and immediately the crew stops shooting hoops. The shot is done quickly and everyone packs up to move on to the next location on the itinerary. Peterson and Humphreys are thanked and allowed to go.

‘Besides the sports guys, who have been really helpful, [the talent] have all been really excited about it. It’s a civic-minded thing,’ says Yurman. ‘We’re not selling anything, we just want people to remember to keep our city clean, because it benefits everybody.’ *