Sam Dean | The Roanoke Times

Driving a sport utility vehicle, actress Alex Miller waits for her close-up while Greg Simpson prepares lighting. Tuesday morning the intersection of 24th Street and Rosalind Avenue in Roanoke became the set for an insurance commercial.

An ambulance sped past. The 2008 Chevy Tahoe braked hard.

Then, each vehicle backed up and did it again.

And again.

Actual rain yielded the perfect glistening sheen for the jet black Tahoe and the gray streets. The water truck idled on standby.

No one yelled, "Cut!" or "That's a take!" There were no cushy trailers for actors. But the production scene evoked a hint of Hollywood anyway. Or, at least, Madison Avenue.

The commercial shoot in Roanoke was for a national insurance company. But it was truly a Roanoke production, relying on local companies and local talent.

"It is a coup for the city and a great thing for our business market," said Tony Pearman, chief creative officer and chief executive officer for Access, an advertising, design and public relations firm in Roanoke.

Long before tape rolled Tuesday morning in what turned out to be a 10-hour shoot, the sweating of details began.

Crew members working for Carter Media, a video production company in Roanoke, sprayed Windex to clean stop signs at the intersection of Rosalind Avenue and 24th Street in South Roanoke.

Pearman, the ad's primary writer, was not above wielding a can of black spray paint to touch up the stop sign poles.

Jamie Nervo, a Roanoke Valley artist who works also as a production coordinator, outfitted the "mom" with an engagement ring and a wedding band, applied the actress' makeup and handled a host of other duties.

The customer was Nashville, Tenn.-based American General Life and Accident Insurance Co., whose parent is AIG, an international insurance and financial services firm.

Tuesday's shoot depended on Access, Carter Media and Nervo. Two of the three actors were locals -- son Asher Weisman, 10, and dad Steve Mason. Weisman attends Fishburn Park Elementary School.

But why Roanoke?

"I was familiar with Access' work and always impressed by it," said Meredith Bell, an associate director of marketing for AGLA. Bell once worked in Roanoke for Shenandoah Life Insurance.

Access previously has produced DVDs for AGLA. Agents use the media to explain the company's insurance offerings to potential customers.

But this project was more ambitious, Bell said.

Once completed, two versions of the commercial, a 30-second spot and a 60-second version, will be offered to agents who might decide to purchase time from local television networks.

Roanoke also appealed as a site, said Bell, because production costs here are cheaper than in Nashville. She would not disclose the budget for the commercial.

OK. But why Rosalind and 24th?

Gary Gilmore, a creative director of interactive media, said he scouted several city neighborhoods, including Southeast Roanoke and Grandin Court, before choosing the South Roanoke location.

The intersection's environs include homes in varied styles and colors, providing a sense that it could be a neighborhood just about anywhere in the United States, he said. It features two stop signs on 24th Street; the signage fit the script. A steep hill in the background enhances composition.

And it isn't a crossing of busy streets, Gilmore added, reducing the hassles of redirecting traffic.

Although the ad was for an insurance company, the vehicles did not collide.

The commercial's focus was a product AGLA calls Quality of Life Insurance, which the company describes as life insurance "you can use when you're alive," said Bell. Benefits can be paid to policyholders who have suffered a serious illness or medical condition and suffered financially as a result.

The main character in Tuesday's commercial was the mom, played by actress Alex Miller, now in Roanoke with Mill Mountain Theatre.

Again, the details.

Nervo borrowed the Tahoe from Berglund Auto World. It had to be a hybrid, Pearman said, both because many of AGLA's agents work in environmentally conscious California and because AGLA supports working "green."

The shoot required a large SUV to allow the camera crew to capture interior shots from behind Miller and Weisman, he said.

The story.

At the wheel of the Tahoe, Miller's key chain features a small family portrait and a pink ribbon. In the back seat, Weisman plays a Nintendo game.

The Tahoe halts at the stop sign. Miller, the mom, glances fondly at Weisman, her son. She fiddles with the radio. She begins to pull through the intersection but brakes forcefully to avoid slamming into an ambulance speeding by.

The pink ribbon. Her beloved son. The ambulance and the close call. All of it triggers memories of the breast cancer she survived, the family she loves and the financial assistance provided by her insurance policy.

Without dialogue, the commercial relies on the mother's flashbacks and narration.

Standing by a camera monitor, Pearman waited for the first take of the meeting of the Tahoe and the ambulance (secured for the shoot by a donation to volunteer-run Roanoke Emergency Medical Services and driven by emergency medical technician Daniel Markley).

"This is where it gets interesting," Pearman said. "You can storyboard this thing a thousand different ways, but until you have the vehicles and the people sitting in those seats, you never know what might happen."