Squirrels star in commercial Ad featuring Chevrolet Equinox shot in Balch Park
Eric Coyne has facilitated a variety of projects throughout his time as the film commissioner for Tulare County such as feature films, still photography and photo shoots. However, he’s never had the opportunity to work on a project where trained animals is the primary focus.
Well, he finally got his chance last month when Variable, a film production company in New York City, filmed a Chevrolet commercial on its new 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The stars of the commercial are three trained European Red Tree Squirrels that go by the names of Clyde, Inky and Binky.
“We have dealt with machine guns, we’ve dealt with flame throwers, we have dealt with people that want to explode the Sequoias and all this kind of stuff,” Coyne said, adding that the squirrel commercial, “Was a different experience for us.”
Although the commercial will only be broadcast in China, Coyne said to be a part of such a project is still something to be proud of.
“What was amazing is this is the first time we’ve dealt with trained animals,” Coyne said, adding that weather prevented other similar projects involving animals such as bears and tigers from being shot in Tulare County. “We are kind of cursed with these animals.”
Not knowing what to expect from the squirrels, Coyne said they surely didn’t disappoint as far as being entertaining. In fact, they did such a great job that Coyne asked if he could keep some of them, specifically Inky and Binky.
“They were really fascinating,” Coyne said. “They were as cute as can be.”
As far as the commercial, Coyne said it took a crew of about 54 people, a state forester and the Tulare County parks director, among a few others, to complete the project, which he said took two days. The commercial, Coyne said, was filmed in Balch Park and Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest.
Coyne said it cost an estimated $400,000 for Chevrolet to film the commercial. Coyne noted that well in excess of $20,000 was spent locally, including location fees, which he said was about $8,000 split between Balch Park and Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest, and food and lodging, all of which was spent in Porterville and Springville.
“This is revenue we would never get because normally all of that area is closed to the public because there should be 14 feet of snow up there,” Coyne said, adding that there was roughly six to eight inches of snow.
In addition to Tulare County, Coyne said the commercial was also shot in Kern County and in Inyo County and also features a man, a woman, a Golden eagle and an American bison.
He said the commercial has the American couple going on a road trip in the U.S. where they are driving around in a maroon 2018 Chevrolet Equinox and encounter wild animals and attempt to photograph and film them on camera. Coyne said the plan is to have the commercial finished the first week of March.
While he enjoyed filming a portion of the commercial in Tulare County, Coyne said watching the squirrels show off their acting skills was priceless.
“My favorite part is when the squirrels hop on the car and the gal throws nuts up on the roof and the squirrels come dancing across a windshield in slow motion,” Coyne said. “It was fascinating.”
So fascinating that Coyne said he hopes to do a similar project in the future.
“We never know what is going to happen when we get the next phone call,” Coyne said.
Even though his phone rings over 450 times a year with project requests, Coyne said of that number there’s usually about 30 to 35 that actually happen. There are various reasons why so many projects don’t take off such as unsafe weather conditions and disasters such as the Cedar Fire and the Pier Fire, both of which destroyed a number of film opportunities.
In addition to several scenes being filmed for a major motion picture, Coyne said so far this year he has also received a number of requests he believes will turn into something, including one that has him working with the City of Porterville and American Broadcasting Company (ABC) for a possible pilot TV series.
“They have come here, they have looked around and we are hoping that we can make that happen,” Coyne said.