Commercials
The Commercials series (1 linear foot) includes materials from Robert Altman's commercial production company, Villains, and the various commercials he directed or under consideration for direction, ca. 2001-2005. The commercials were for both domestic and international corporations. Some projects, such as the Revlon, E! Entertainment and SunCom Wireless material include detailed production information, while other projects include brief correspondence. On the backs of portions of the Revlon scripts include scene notes for Tanner on Tanner, which was in production at the time.
The Miller Beer Commercial file (0.3 linear feet) consists of material from a series of commercials for Miller Beer directed by Robert Altman in May, 1984. The commercials were filmed in Ann Arbor, Michigan (possibly during production of Secret Honor, an additional Altman production filmed there). The commercials feature the actors Jonathan Frakes, Gary Schiebler, Craig Sisler, and David Alan Grier.
The Miller Beer Commercial business and financials files include petty cash envelopes, documenting financial transactions occurring at many area Ann Arbor businesses. The scripts sub-series include thirty and sixty-second versions of one of the commercials, titled "New Job." (While the series includes scripts for this commercial only, the call and contact sheets, located in the production sub-series, indicate several commercials were shot. The titles of the additional commercials are "Playoffs" and "Gym.") Production and post-production sub-series contains audition report forms, which indicate actor Kelsey Grammer was among many who auditioned for the roles.