Writing
BMW Films presents "The Hire", a series of nine short films produced for the Internet in 2001 and 2002, with a ninth short film following in 2016. A form of branded content, all nine short films feature popular filmmakers from across the globe, star Clive Owen as the "Driver", and highlight the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles.
Some say laughter is the best medicine. It’s true. Standup comedy has been known to cure everything from bad moods and frowns to fits of pouting. So for those who need a heavy dose of hilarity, try a spoonful of “Comedy.TV.” With no traffic jams, parking debacles, or two-drink minimums of the local comedy clubs, the most clever comedians jump onstage for a full-fledged funny fest.
The Driver is hired by the FBI to help defuse a hostage situation. A disgruntled employee has kidnapped a CEO and has hidden her, demanding $5,088,042. The Driver delivers the money, writing the sum on his hand as instructed by the hostage taker. After he is told that he holds the life of a person in his hand, he is ordered to burn the money. As he complies, the federal agents break in and attempt to subdue the man, who shoots himself in the head before he reveals where the woman is hidden. The Driver then tries to find the hostage before she drowns in the trunk of a sinking car. As a twist, the kidnapped woman is revealed to be the hostage taker's lover. She coldly taunts the dying man in the hospital.
The Driver drives a wounded diplomat, who carries a mysterious briefcase, while under helicopter attack. During the attack the briefcase is struck by a bullet, causing a display on it to begin counting down, and it to leak an unknown fluid from the bullet hole. The Driver manages to destroy his pursuers, but refuses to proceed without knowing the contents of the damaged briefcase. It is revealed that the diplomat guards a human heart for a peacekeeper, whose life is needed for the continued freedom of the people. The case is delivered, and the tyrant is forced to give up his attempt to take the country by force. The Driver leaves for another mission.
The Driver drag-races the Devil, in order to earn James Brown his soul.
Daybreak is the story of an everyman character, Ben Wilkins, who finds himself at the center of a global conspiracy. When Ben discovers an ancient and mysterious object called a dodecahedron, he quickly learns that he must restore it to its rightful place to avert catastrophe and allow humanity to make its next evolutionary leap forward. Along the way, Ben faces fierce resistance from a collection of the world’s most secretive and powerful families. However, Ben is aided in his journey by a crafty underground group of allies called the Jack Boxers. Should Ben fail, the power would fall into the hands of the few and the world would plunge farther into chaos.
Esther is beautiful beneath the surface, in an office where the surface is all that matters. Plus she has brains and about 100 extra pounds. Her nasty, brutish, and tall colleagues (Donna, Caroline, and Erica) make fun of her even as they depend on her knowledge. One day, she excitedly offers to show them a portrait she's had taken by Bud, of "Bud's Glamour Shots," who had spammed the office with an e-mail promising a picture that will reveal her true inner self. Cut to Esther, driving home in tears. That night she sleeps with the portrait near the bed and awakes to discover something extraordinary. When the three harpies see the result, will they book a session with Bud?
A woman in a slip is at her dressing table getting ready for a night out as her husband paces nervously. He's thinking back 30 years when, as a young man, he paid a visit to a pawnshop, a Nixon poster on the wall, a prostitute plying her trade outside. As he works up the courage to tell her whatever is eating at him, the flashbacks show a sleazy salesman pitching a necklace with a diamond-studded pendant. Back in the bedroom, he screws his courage to the sticking point and tells her the truth, as a fly buzzes annoyingly in the background. Are karmic forces at work? Will the sole of a shoe meet the soul of a heel?
A sweating man breathes rapidly from exertion as he open a packet and pulls out a DVD with the words "Salvation comes from within" on it. Impatiently he plays the film, which appears to be a Max Fleischer cartoon of the three blind mice singing. Soon, the mice deliver a message, telling the man to go to a specific street corner. Off he runs, through modern Los Angeles crowds. At the designated corner, a street person talks to him about shoes, then a cell phone rings, which he finds and answers. A voice sends him running - to avert a tragedy, to find salvation, or because he's trapped in earthly pursuits? Is this cosmic cat and mouse? Will he stop to smell the roses?
