Executive producer Bryan Farhy has launched brand tv as a satellite of bicoastal Headquarters, the commercial production house headed by partners Alex Blum and Tom Mooney. For the past year, Farhy has run the commercial division of Basecamp Entertainment.
Nathalie Marciano, co-founder of Basecamp, could not immediately be reached for comment, but a company representative confirmed that the production house had pulled out of the spot business, had closed its New York office, and had changed its name to 26 Films. The Beverly Hills-based shop is currently attached to produce a feature film based on the best-selling memoir Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail, by Malika Oufkir, with Miramax.
Brand tv opens with director Wayne Holloway for representation in the U.S. spot market. The British-born helmer also comes to the new venture from Basecamp; he continues to be repped in the U.K. by London-based Stark Films, which he joined in 1999.
Holloway and Farhy first teamed up last year on a 12-spot European campaign for adidas via Amsterdam agency 180. Holloway directed and Farhy starred in the Olympic-themed package that was produced by Stark. Shortly thereafter, Holloway signed with Basecamp for stateside representation. Holloway is currently helming a Volvo campaign via Forsman and Bodenfors, Göteborg, Sweden.
Earlier this year, Holloway made his U.S. debut with a two-spot Reebok campaign for Berlin Cameron & Partners, New York (SHOOT, 4/27, p. 7). That assignment was followed by a five-spot Quizno’s Subs campaign via Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York. Farhy exec-produced both jobs.
The Los Angeles-based Farhy said he is talking with other directors and looking to eventually expand the brand tv roster. But at this juncture, he stated, "Wayne is our keystone director. He represents the level we want to operate at."
Brand tv is backed by Headquarters’ infrastructure and resources, which include an in-house sales force comprising New York-based Diane Patrone and Jared Shapiro, who cover the East Coast and Midwest, respectively; and Los Angeles-based Stephanie Stephens on the West Coast. As brand tv grows, Farhy said, "We’ll bring in additional people if need be."
In addition to serving as partner/executive producer of brand tv, Farhy will be involved in the marketing of Headquarters’ directorial roster, which consists of David Cornell, Agust Baldursson, John Moore, Sean Mullens, Lloyd Stein, Eric Steinman and the directing team Joe Public (Adam Cameron and Simon Cole).
Blum, Farhy and Mooney noted that in recent years they’d explored opportunities to work together, but the timing wasn’t right until now. "We saw this opportunity to team with Bryan, and we think Wayne is really talented," Mooney related. "Bryan and I will work together in sales and marketing, so there will be some interesting crossover. Bryan will be bringing in and developing new talent. Several of our younger directors, like Sean Mullens and Lloyd Stein, are making a turn now and there’s been a lot of interest in them, so it’s the right time [to bring on new talent]. And we’ve been wanting to get back into the global world, which Bryan will help with a lot."
Farhy said he met with several top-drawer spot houses, but quite a few factors ultimately lured him to partner with the 10-year-old Headquarters. "The dynamic between Tom and Alex was really important to me," he explained. "Their production reputation is impeccable. They consistently win [at the International Advertising Festival] at Cannes and [the AICP Show at] MoMA, and from the outside I could see a culture of change—a desire to avoid becoming pedantic." Similarly, he added, "the philosophy behind brand tv is that if we only create what already exists, we are just repeating ourselves."
Evidencing Headquarters’ continued evolution is its recent feature film work. Blum co-produced the forthcoming Behind Enemy Lines, a $40 million feature for 20th Century Fox that was directed by Moore and stars Gene Hackman. Stein, as well, has generated interest in Hollywood, said Blum. Likewise, Holloway has written and plans to direct the feature Stop History. However, Blum stated that there are no plans to launch a longform division. "It’s all about pursuing the appropriate avenues for the talent you represent," he pointed out. "We don’t care what it is—a TV series or something for the Web—we’ll do it, as long as it’s interesting creatively."
Meanwhile, Andrew Denyer, who had been with Headquarters for six years as head of production and later executive producer, recently left the company to take on an executive producer post at bicoastal/international Propaganda Films’ spot operation (see SHOOT’s "Street Talk," 6/1, p. 22). Blum characterized Den-yer’s exit as amicable. "When you have someone who’s really good, they need to continue growing, and often it makes sense for them to do that in a larger environment," observed Blum.
BREAKING UP CAMP
The brand tv announcement comes shortly after Laura Gregory—managing director of London-based production house Great Guns and a co-founder of Basecamp—partnered with spot veteran Michael Romersa’s Santa Monica-headquartered Stoney Road to launch Great Guns in the U.S. (SHOOT, 4/27, p. 1). Previously, select Great Guns directors had been repped stateside via Basecamp’s spot operation. According to Gregory, Great Guns will maintain a relationship in longform development with Basecamp successor house 26 Films, which is owned by shoe designer Nathalie Marciano and Maurice Marciano, CEO of Guess?.
"I’m very proud of my involvement in helping to launch Basecamp as a feature production company," Farhy said. "It was never designed as a commercial company. The commercial division was there to help offset some of the start-up costs. Now the feature division has some major deals, so it was time for me to return to what I love, which is commercial filmmaking."
In addition to the Holloway-directed commercials, Farhy exec-produced a Visa spot during his Basecamp tenure. Helmed by Leonardo Ricagni via BBDO New York and Miami, the ad starred Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayak. Ricagni, who has shifted over to bicoastal First Look Artists for U.S. spot work (SHOOT, 5/11, p. 7), directed the upcoming feature 29 Palms. He also maintains his own New York-based entity, Babilonya, for select projects.
Prior to joining Basecamp, Farhy was partnered for two years in the Fink/Farhy Agency (now the Richard Fink Agency), a New York-based independent repping firm.
