Director Steven Ramser has launched a Los Angeles-based spot production house, Lotion, in partnership with his executive producer, Rossi Cannon. Lotion also features directors Frank Samuel, Luca Maroni and Jelle Oortman Gerlings.
Ramser’s former shop, Unscented, operated as a satellite of bicoastal The End. Last month, The End was abruptly shuttered due to financial problems (SHOOT, 2/23, p. 1). Part of the iNTELEFILM family of companies, The End was a subsidiary of Harmony Holdings, Inc. The publicly traded, Minneapolis-headquartered iNTELEFILM is majority owner of Harmony Holdings.
It was a little more than two years ago that Ramser entered Unscented into an association with The End, which was then run by principals/executive producers Luke Thornton and Liz Silver (who now maintain bicoastal Believe Media and are partnered in Hollywood-based sister interactive shop iBelieve Media). The End later became part of the iNTELEFILM group of companies. Thornton and Silver departed The End in late 1999, at which point head of production Roger Hunt was promoted to head the company.
According to Ramser, he is owed $300,000 for work he completed at Unscented. At press time, a Lotion staffer confirmed that Ramser had filed suit against iNTELEFILM and The End to collect the money. "I’m probably [The End’s] largest outstanding bill," said Ramser. "There was a lot of debt, and I think a lot of money that came in from [Unscented] work ended up being used to float it [The End]."
Ramser added: "We were rolling along doing great business at [Unscented]. We’re doing great business now [at Lotion]. Now, there just isn’t any weird stuff. There isn’t any parent company taking the money that came in on our jobs and paying others with it. It’s simply Rossi, myself and everybody involved with us—all collaborating."
SHOOT phoned iNTELEFILM CEO Christopher T. Dahl for comment. In response, iNTELEFILM general counsel Judite Fluger contacted SHOOT and stated: "iNTELEFILM does not have an agreement with Ramser. We believe we have been wrongly identified in the suit." Fluger declined to offer any further comment.
Ramser said that well in advance of last month’s developments, he had intended to exit Unscented and end his association with The End, although The End’s closure (on Feb. 14) hastened his plans. He and Cannon, who’s been Ramser’s executive producer for the past year and a half, secured new space on Feb. 15, and Lotion opened for business the following week.
Signing other likeminded directors was an important element, noted Ramser, adding, "Lotion is a creative place for directors to express themselves and collaborate with agencies and crews." That collaboration also applies within directorial ranks. "I may get a board in and the other directors here may [offer input]," related Ramser. "The idea is that we’re not competing with each other; we’re here to support each other and help each other get better."
Samuel comes over to Lotion from New York-headquartered Gotham Central, which he joined in late 1999 (when it was The Sussan Group). Before moving into directing, Samuel worked as an art director/production designer for feature directors Steven Soderbergh, Chuck Russell and Talia Shire. Samuel began working in commercials as a production designer. His first spot roost was Venice, Calif.-based redBACK films; he also worked at bicoastal Bedford Falls and Hollywood-based Vamp Films.
Milan-based Maroni had been repped stateside by bicoastal Original Film since June 1999. Prior to that, Maroni had worked for five years as a creative director at Ammirati Puris Lintas, Milan, where he began helming low budget spots for clients, including Mercedes-Benz and Breil, a watch manufacturer.
Amsterdam-based Oortman Gerlings has been directing for the past few years through Blood Simple, Amsterdam. He has helmed European spots for Canon, Lever Brothers and Philips International, among others.
Lotion’s sales team consists of Douglas Howell of New York-based Forsberg/Howell on the East Coast; Ron Hoffman, who handles Detroit; and Deborah Marlowe, who covers the rest of the Midwest. Lotion expects to name a West Coast rep shortly.
