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A “commercial” for the Chicago International Film Festival produced by two DDB creatives will be part of the Festival’s Oct. 5 opening festivities at the Chicago Theatre.

ACDs Larry Ziegelman and Jay Manheimer produced the 60-second pro bono promo that screens before the premiere of “Stranger than Fiction” and throughout the two-week cinema extravaganza.

Titled “The Violin,” the spot “unites things that are purely Chicago, such as the ‘L,’ with elements of foreign films, like great violin music that symbolizes foreign cinema to us," said Ziegelman, who directed.

The comparatively tiny budget of $17,000 was donated to the commercial as DDB’s contribution to the festival. Bob Scarpelli, the agency’s worldwide creative chief, has been a CIFF board member since 1993.

“We basically wanted to use the money to pay for the actors, locations and crew,” Manheimer said.

For the essential sound track, the team called on composer Tom Schultz, owner of Das Music in L.A., who donated the score and violin performance. He is a former art director and partner of Manheimer.

“It could have been really difficult,” said Schultz, “but Larry and Jay knew exactly what they wanted. But the challenge of “syncing something up that closely and making it look like the music was coming from the train platform was not the easiest project in the world,” he commented.

Among those contributing time and talent were sound designer/mixer Justin Mayer of Hoffman Sound, formerly with Swell, Tenner Pascal Rudnicke Casting, which provided the three actors. IFP donated the 35mm film stock. DDB's Nate Brown produced.

Ziegelman and Manheimer started working on the concept in August and shot in early September. Ziegelman has been with the agency for 10 years, and Manheimer for almost three-and-a-half years.

Last year Ziegelman produced his first short, four-minute comedic “Coffee Break” that screens this weekend at the Chicago International Reel Shorts Festival. Earlier it played at Movies in the Park, Chicago Comedy Shorts and IFP Short Cuts.

Creative department manager Peggy Ward “was aware of ‘Coffee Break’ when she gave us the assignment,” Ziegelman said.

A 30-second version of “The Violin” will air on Comcast outlets from now through Oct. 20 to promote the festival.