Signs of Shyamalan in US ad world

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New York: Film director M Night Shyamalan's fans are eagerly waiting for his next film Lady in the Water due to release this summer. But first, American Express has delivered an appetiser, at least to the American market - its latest commercial in the My Life My Card series.

Shyamalan does cameos in all his movies, but he's the star of a two-minute commercial, which was premiered on the Oscar night.

"We are looking for someone who has achieved something, not short-lived but something substantial. But it doesn't have to be over the years so we're not just working with those who are old, but anyone who has done something meaningful," VP, Global Advertising, American Express, Diego Scotti said.

While American Express's advertising agency O&M is in charge of this campaign, Shyamalan wrote and directed the commercial.

The commercial was shot at two restaurants in Manhattan, rather than at his favorite location, his hometown Philadelphia.

Shyamalan treated his first commercial like a short film, casting Broadway and film actors.

"I treated it like a movie, and American Express also wanted it that way. We used movie aesthetics in script, casting and I shot about 11-12 shots a day, which is what I do for my movies," Shyamalan said.

"Our perspective was to create something that doesn't feel like advertising. Consumers don't want to be interrupted and we wanted to give something they could be engaged with," Scotti said.

Shyamalan is an established box office star but something of a showbiz mystery, he doesn't show up on the pages of celebrity magazines, but now his fans will get to see more of him through this commercial.

"M Night does this often - he goes to a restaurant with his family and makes up stories about people. But the idea is that he looks at human behaviour as inspiration for his movies," Scotti said.

"He has a fertile imagination and when you combine all of this with great story-telling then you get such fantastic stuff," Scotti added.

American Express says the budget for Shyamalan's commercial, though larger, was roughly the same as other campaigns featuring the likes of Hollywood actors Robert De Niro, Kate Winslet and tennis champion Venus Williams.

Besides television, there will be a print ad, and outdoor and online versions. A podcast can be downloaded from iTunes, and one can also know more about the commercial at mylifemycard.com.

While the company considers India a key market, there are no immediate plans to air the commercial in India.

Even if one can't see him on the small screen, one can catch Shyamalan on the big screen soon enough, when his next film Lady in the Water releases this summer. He is sure to make his trademark cameo appearance in the movie.