Ad it up

He's hailed as one of our top documentarians, but that doesn't stop Errol Morris from taking on side projects. Currently getting raves for the upcoming Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter Jr., a profile of a Holocaust denier, Morris recently directed a series of 18 commercials for Levi's jeans. The ads — based on the theme ''What's True?'' — use the Interrotron, an invention of Morris' that puts a video of his face where the camera lens normally is, so that subjects will open up. In the spots, a cheese-shop clerk lists his favorite varieties, a teen reveals his homosexuality, a young woman obsesses over white vinyl furniture. ''Errol's expressive face has the power to suck the words out of people,'' says TBWA/Chiat/Day's Peter Feldman, who produced the ads. Why did Morris take on the assignment? ''I love the challenge of the smaller scale,'' says the filmmaker, who's been quietly working for clients like 7-Eleven and Miller High Life for nearly a decade. ''But I really love the money.''

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