The Directors Guild of America (DGA) recently awarded Leslie Dektor the best commercial director of 2000 honor. It was the twelfth time that the helmsman, whose roost is Dektor Film, Hollywood, had been nominated; he also won in ’92.
But the veteran director isn’t blasé about receiving yet another nomination—or about his win. "It feels as good as year one," states Dektor. "For me, just going to work is always like day one."
Dektor’s fellow nominees were Dante Ariola of bicoastal/international Propaganda Films; Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international hungry man; David Cornell of bicoastal Headquarters; and Lenard Dorfman of bicoastal/international @radical.media. Referring to the ads helmed by the other contenders, he says, "I think all of the work is of a terrific standard. I think each person has his own style. Each director is so much unto himself."
Dektor’s received his nomination on the basis of three spots: Idea Exchange’s "New Eyes" and "The Run Home" via Publicis & Hal Riney, Chicago, and independent marketing director Lynn Dangell; and Pocketcard’s "The Check," out of FCB Chicago. Why did Dektor choose these particular spots to show the DGA? "The work itself was [similar] in terms of the voice of the work," he explains. "I was attracted to the optimism they each represented.
"You’re attracted to certain pro-jects that come your way," continues Dektor. "Across the years, I’ve gone through many kinds of complexions of work, from very dark to a lot of PSAs to what I’m doing now, which is exciting to me. It’s a much brighter, more optimistic world. I enjoy taking work that talks to that, which [explains] the choice of these pieces."
"New Eyes" shows a young boy, sitting on a building’s stoop, musing about how everything he sees—a television, a water tower, a passing airliner—had its beginnings as an idea in someone’s mind. As the child watches the world, a voiceover recites a litany of inventions. Then the boy is heard saying, "I have some ideas. So what do I do with them?" The voiceover answers, "Now every person has a place to help develop, protect and even sell their ideas, large and small."
In "The Run Home," a schoolgirl is alone in a classroom, manipulating a piece of paper and a comb. Using a jar of water and a flashlight, she creates shadows. She thinks she’s onto something; excited, she runs home with her new idea. A voiceover intones a roster of great thinkers, including Plato, Sir Isaac Newton and Alfred Einstein, as she runs along. She tells various people, including her mother, about her discovery, but no one pays much attention. Then the girl, undaunted, is seen feverishly typing away on a computer.
Soft touch
Dektor says the creatives at Publicis & Hal Riney wanted to create spots that would have a direct emotional effect on viewers. "They wanted work that certainly touched the emotions that this work does touch," he explains. "They wanted ads that didn’t feel affected by the technique. They didn’t want the ed-itorial to be affected by the editorial. I think Roger Harrison [of Exit, Santa Monica], who was the editor, did a wonderful job on the project. [We] tried to be invisible and let the pieces talk for themselves. I’m proud of the spots for that reason," he says.
Dektor describes what it was like directing the young actor with expressive peepers in "New Eyes." "I used his manner to illustrate the piece, rather than getting him to act out scenes," says Dektor. "I studied his body language and kind of backed into it rather than lead it. There’s such a naïve, honest wonderment in his eyes that I think I was able to capture because it was truthful."
Directing the girl in "The Run Home" was a very different experience, according to Dektor. "She was a terrific actress," he notes. "As opposed to backing into the work, I was able to lead her into all kinds of expositions that I wanted. In ‘New Eyes,’ I worked inside of the kid, and this little actress in ‘The Run Home’ gave a true performance."
Pocketcard’s "The Check" features a teenage couple on a big date in an upscale restaurant. When the check arrives, the young man says he’s got it covered. When he sees the damage, he’s taken aback. His date offers to split the check, but the kid says no and heads for a payphone. Panicked, he calls his dad and tells him that he’s short on cash. Sitting at his computer, the sympathetic Dad calmly deposits a hundred bucks into an online Pocketcard account to cover the dinner tab. The young man returns to his table with a big smile on his face. The ad’s tag: "Pocketcard. This card is wired."
"We tried to do a piece that you didn’t laugh at, but that you quietly smiled with," remarks Dektor. "That’s what I loved—the humor was so minimal. I think the spot felt honest for that reason. I’m very drawn to that kind of humor: a very quiet smile rather than a big laugh."
Dektor has as much praise for the teens featured in the Pocketcard as he does for the kids in the Idea Exchange spots. "Both the actors were terrific," he enthuses. "If we did anything well, it was the fact that we cast it so cleverly. As much as what one does with the camera and directing, one’s craft is so much in the casting as well. I think that’s where one can really shine."
Many years ago, Dektor directed documentaries in his native South Africa, and he feels that a documentary approach informs his spotmaking. "I think of myself as a documentarian," he explains. "I’ve always used the camera as an almost invisible tool for me to get what’s in front of the camera."
But Dektor enjoys making stylized commercials, too. He includes Hewlett-Packard’s "Toaster" via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, and Gatorade Propel’s "Heroes," which he’s currently directing via FCB Chicago, in that category. It’s clear how important variety is to Dektor when he states, "It’s so terrific to be invisible in the work, but it’s such a blast to step outside of it, as well. The balance between the two is what keeps me in the business."
