THAT SINKING FEELING: Alex Appel, left, and Park Bench play on the vampire theme of their first feature film, The Death of Alice Blue. The flick mixes modern-day vampire lore with the advertising industry. (Francis Crescia/Vaughan Today)
You would never guess a man named Park Bench would be shy.
At least I never thought so.
I was expecting to meet someone who was cocky and arrogant. Instead, I came across a man who could give Tim Burton a run for his quirkiness.
The 20-something Bench remained inherently inward during a recent interview where he and business partner Alex Appel discussed their latest project.
So much so, I feared if I said boo he’d scamper away.
“I like vampires, I’ll admit it,” the writer/actor/director/producer said in a hushed voice.
The pair’s first feature film, The Death of Alice Blue, deals with vampires in a critical and funny look at the advertising industry.
“(Vampires) are a good metaphor for advertising people,” says the former Thornhiller, who once worked as a copywriter at an ad firm. “(In advertising), you’re selling your art for commercial use. … You’re selling your soul for money. It’s soul-sucking.”
Despite his shyness, Bench — whose given name is Robert Maynard, which he changed to stand out — has created a name for himself in the avant-garde theatre and film worlds.
Through their six-year-old company, Toothin Theatre, the two have written, directed and produced everything from Elevator, an award-winning public service announcement on the stigmas of mental health, to music videos for Chris Tait of Chalk Circle fame.
Death marks their first foray into feature films: Bench wrote and directed, Appel produced, and the pair starred in the dark comedy.
Shot in Toronto in 2005 and 2006 and edited this year, the film is a mix of a modern-day vampire tale with a sarcastic look at the business of advertising.
Appel and Bench are currently shopping Death to several film festivals, including September’s Toronto International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival set for February.
“We had a very ambitious first feature,” said the bubbly and outgoing Appel. “It’s something that I don’t think anyone would try to do for under one million. Ours wasn’t even close to that.”
Best known for playing Special Agent Janey Cooper on Lifetime’s crime series Missing, the Montreal-born actress plays protagonist Alice Blue in Death. A shy creative intern, she discovers she’s genetically predisposed to vampirism and takes on “evil” vampires.
“A female lead character seemed right for us,” Bench said. “I wanted to have a role Alex could put her teeth into.”
The pairing of vampires and advertising wasn’t by mistake. Bench and Appel have done their share of work on both sides — commercial and creative — of the industry.
During Bench’s time as a copywriter, he wrote, acted in and produced Elevator. He still does corporate gigs every so often, and is the voice of Rogers Sportsnet.
Appel is the face behind McDonald’s “It doesn’t come with a toy” spot.
“Those jobs fund our own projects,” Appel said.
Like Bench, she sees the corporate and commercial gigs more as a means to an end rather than the other way around.
A version of this article appears in print on August 15, 2008, on page 15.
