Posted by Smelly Salami on August 31, 2009 at 16:11:54:
Notice how none of the "celebrities" mentioned in the previous column made it to the actual filming. Oh, Lew.
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Local celebs featured in spot pushing 2016 Olympic bid
August 31, 2009
Furniture titan Tim Smithe had a mere two-hour window during last Wednesday's generally inclement weather to get the majority of the location filming done for his contribution to the city's 2016 Olympic bid. And despite having to juggle schedules last minute to get everyone to Millennium Park, Smithe got the shoot done -- thanks to a sharp director, Bill O'Neil, and Smithe's years of experience doing quirky TV spots for his family's Walter E. Smithe furniture empire. Smithe has spent the past several days feverishly editing the spot at post production house Cutters to ready it to debut today.
The finished 30-second spot features an array of celebs such as Cubs manager Lou Piniella, WLS-AM (890) on-air personality Roe Conn, musician Milt Trenier and actress and talk show host Bonnie Hunt. The commercial is set to an original music track composed by Chicago band Poi Dog Pondering. The visuals, shot at Millennium Park, as well as Mike Ditka's restaurant and Wrigley Field, show participants using sign language to spell out the numbers "2016."
Smithe said he's hopeful the upbeat commercial will help galvanize the local population's interest in -- and support of -- the city's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics during the final countdown to Oct. 2, when the International Olympic Committee will pick the host city. Chicago is competing with Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo for the honor.