(19.10.00) The actors involved in the controversial 'Truth in Advertising' film are suing its makers after the ad industry spoof was leaked onto the internet.
The cast, which includes Colin Mochrie, a regular panellist on the UK's Channel 4 quiz show 'Whose Line is it Anyway?', have taken legal action against the team behind the film because they claim they only agreed to make it for a one-off showing at an awards dinner.
The film, which parodies individual types in the advertising and production industries, was made for Canada's Marketing Awards Show but a pirate copy has been e-mailed across the globe and it has found its way onto various websites.
'Truth in Advertising' was made by ad industry personnel. These include Tim Hamilton, who directed it through Avion Films, and David Chiavegato, a copywriter at the Toronto-based Palmer, Jarvis.
A source at a production company which represents Hamilton in New York said: "The company is being sued by the actors and the film has been withdrawn from all websites."
The film, made in three parts, depicts adfolk talking about "sniffing cocaine off a stripper's tits" and pokes fun at typically toadying agency staff in one scene where an account manager says: "Oh, while you're here, can I come by your office at, say, 5pm to kiss your ass?" His client replies: "Sure. Bill, do you want to shove your tongue up my ass and give it a few twirls?"
A later scene also parodies directors by showing one who, in a conference call to an agency, admits he has nothing original to say. "But I will make references to German expressionism, use meaningless terms like edgy and suggest the disgustingly overused blue-green transfer look," he goes on.
