Super Bowl 2014 Commercials Doritos Contest: Meet the Top Five Finalists [WATCH]
In celebration of the big game, Doritos is holding its "Crash the Super Bowl" contest. About 5,500 of participants from 30 different countries submitted their own Doritos commercial. The winning commercial wins $1 million. Meet the five finalists who are hoping that Doritos will chip in and make their Super Bowl dreams come true.
Ryan Thomas Andersen, Time Machine
This is Andersen's fourth time entering the competition but first time as a finalist.
"Any time we've made a spot for this contest I've been happy with it, but with this one, I felt there was something special around the project," he told AZ Central.
The Scottsdale wedding videographer dreamed of entering the film industry after seeing 2000's Requiem for a Dream.
"I try to give off the façade that I'm a lot bigger than I am," he said. "There is no production team. I do everything myself, and my bread and butter is freelance wedding video photography."
The 28-year-old shot the commercial for six hours in his parents' house. He wants to use the money to move out of his apartment and buy a house for him and his six-year-old son.
"I want to be optimistic," he said. "It seems so clear to me that I've come so far in this competition that this is my time to get noticed and to do what I want to do with my life."
Chris Capel, Office Thief
The 33-year-old said his commercial took six hours and $1,500 to make.
'[The commercial] is just something that a couple of regular guys did," Capel told Deseret News.
The Santa Clarita, California native, worked as a Dreamworks animator in movie including Monsters vs. Aliens and Kung Fu Panda 2. He was laid off last year.
"I'm hoping that this will open a door or two at the very least," Capel said.
If he wins, Capel says he will donate some of the money to charity, CBS reports.
"I wanted to enter for a long time, but we waited until we found the right concept," he said.
The animator has 13 siblings, seven of which were adopted from Africa.
Amber Gill, Cowboy Kid
Gill's three-year-old and one-year-old sons inspired her.
"I live sibling rivalry every day in my house," Gill told Orange County Register. "So I thought it would be very relatable to everyone."
"Cowboy Kid" is Gill's first venture into the writing and producing world. The 34-year-old works as a vocal coach in Ladera Ranch, California.
"They always say 'don't work with kids and don't work with dogs,'" Gill said. "We did both, so we were a little nervous about how we'd do."
Her favorite part of the being a finalist was getting a phone call from Stan Lee.
"I actually hung up on the person from Doritos that was on speaker phone with us," Gill said. "I could not believe this was happening."
Eric Haviv, Breakroom Ostrich
Haviv is an Atlanta television producer. He graduated from The Art Institute of Atlanta and majored in film production.
"I didn't see myself getting this far so the fact that I'm here is sort of blowing my mind," he told 11Alive.
The featured ostrich was never actually in the office. They filmed the bird at North Carolina's Birdbrain Ostrich Ranch.
"Shooting these ostriches was like a complete nightmare," he said. "The crew brought an enormous green screen to the farm, but getting the birds to flock in front of it wasn't exactly easy. These ostriches were scared to death of this thing..."
It took the 30-year-old eight hours of filming to get 15 seconds of ostrich footage. The commercial cost $800.
"I've always loved animal humor and office humor," Haviv said. "I decided to combine the two."
If he wins, Haviv said he will put money into a production company he started with his friends.
Thomas Noakes, Finger Cleaner
Noakes is the only non-American finalist in the competition. He is from Sydney, Australia.
"It's silly, really," Noakes told The Guardian Australia. "We just thought of a machine that cleans fingers."
If the filmmaker wins, the first prize will translate to $1.1 million Australian dollars.
"Like magical machines, and Willy Wonka and all those references, but then I thought it would be funny if it wasn't so magical, and it was just a mundane office worker on the other side," Noakes explained.
The commercial took 10 takes and features no "stunt fingers."
"The screening audience of the Super Bowl is five times the actual population of Australia," Noakes gushed. "It's bananas. The other entries are amazing. We're humbled and grateful to be among those other entries."
Fans had the opportunity to vote for their favorite commercial from Jan. 4 until Jan. 29. The commercial with the most votes will air during the Super Bowl, and its creator will win $1 million. Doritos will also pick a commercial to air during the big game, and its creator will win $50,000. The creators of both commercials will get to work on the set of Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron.
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