LOS ANGELES–Leslie Dektor of Hollywood-based Dektor Film has been named best commercial director of 2000 by the Directors Guild of America (DGA). He won the honor on the strength of three entries: Pocketcard’s "The Check" for FCB/Chicago; and Idea Exchange’s "New Eyes" and "The Run Home" via Publicis & Hal Riney, Chicago, in tandem with independent marketing director Lynn Dangell.
This is the second time Dektor has copped the DGA Award for commercials. He first received the accolade for his body of work in ’92. Dektor has been nominated 12 times, tying him with Joe Pytka of Venice, Calif.-based PYTKA for the most career DGA nominations in the TV commercial category. Dektor received nominations for his work annually from ’84 through ’92, then again in ’94, ’99 and ’00.
Dektor’s fellow directorial nominees this year 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.
In his acceptance remarks during this past Saturday’s (3/10) DGA Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, Dektor said that "any one of us [the five nominees] could easily be up here tonight [to win the award]. I’m proud to be part of that group."
Dektor thanked his clients "for their trust," observing that "I’ve been fortunate in my career to be able to use advertising as a tool to document and mirror society."
He expressed heartfelt thanks to the DGA and to his wife, executive producer Faith Dektor. The director additionally acknowledged the contributions of his production team and crew. The DGA also credited first and second assistant directors, and/or unit production managers who worked on all the nominees’ spots. All three of Dektor’s ad entries employed the same supporting cast: first assistant director Frank Glenn, second assistant director Christopher Berger and unit production manager Marc Siegel.
Shortly after Dektor’s formal remarks, SHOOT caught up with the director backstage. Asked to compare this DGA win with the one of eight years ago, Dektor quipped, "I think I get more and more nervous. It’s just a great feeling to be in the field of nominees. I said a while back that the DGA competition has become like a calendar to my life. Pick three minutes of work, show it, and then the year flies by."
Dektor said the spots that earned him the award "allowed me to dig into things" through the characters. "I feel the work had a voice and sparked certain things."
Last month (SHOOT, 2/9, p. 1), Dektor articulated what that voice was saying when he reflected on the three entries he had selected. Clearly, the commercials are performance driven and reflect a sense of optimism. "The Run Home," for example, depicts a little girl who comes home from school and excitedly tries to talk to everyone about her idea for her new invention–but no one is paying attention to her. Dektor explained, "It was all about not being heard, but having the strength to keep moving on with yourself. I feel all three spots spoke to the same thing: just believing in yourself. They had a feeling of ‘up-ness,’ which is why I wanted to show that particular body of work."
The feeling of "up-ness" overall at the DGA Award proceedings was tempered somewhat with the looming possibility of Writers Guild of America and/or Screen Actors Guild strike action against the feature/ TV studios. As has been chronicled in SHOOT, a strike scenario could have a negative ripple effect on commercialmaking. In his opening remarks at the awards ceremony, DGA president Jack Shea said that the Guild is "acutely aware of its duty to our members" and will try "to help advance constructive dialogue so that new contracts can be negotiated without a devastating impact on production.
