It’s been about three years now since the tech boom of the late 1990s went out with a whimper, and the ensuing slump has taken a toll on just about everyone this side of Ken Lay. As the cliché would have it, however, it’s an ill wind that blows no one good, and so even in these days of cooked books and anemic Dows there are still a few winners to be found. Among them are a lucky group of non-profits that were able to use the services of standout director Peter Darley Miller.
Possessed of a strong social conscience to go with his wicked sense of humor, Miller, who directs out of bicoastal/international @radical. media, explains, "What happened is that a lot of your large advertising, because of the economics that have been going on, was just really poor. So we decided to take a different tack and go for the PSAs and the more interesting work whether it was regional or national—it didn’t really matter."
The result—a series of highly creative spots for organizations that might otherwise never have been able to afford them. The most famous (perhaps in some quarters, infamous) of these is "Puppy Love" a spot that Miller directed via BooneOakley, Charlotte, N.C., for the Charlotte Humane Society. Featuring a pair of amorous house pets, an unwrapped condom atop a wagging tail and a soundtrack fit for a Peter North home movie, the spot ended with the message "Dogs don’t understand birth control. Have your pet spayed or neutered."
"Puppy Love" was an instant success—and scandal. Charlotte CBS affiliate WBTV refused to air the spot, deeming it offensive. Meanwhile, Charlotte FOX affiliate WCCB carried a story about the PSA in its early-evening news broadcast. Local radio station FM 107.9 discussed it on air and linked to a video of it from their Web site. For a few weeks spaying and neutering became quite the hot topic, and regardless of where one came down on the issue of copulating canines, the Charlotte Humane Society had certainly gotten their message out. The ad also garnered recognition in SHOOT’s "The Best Work You May Never See" gallery.
It might seem odd that a :30 could generate such controversy, but for Miller it’s pretty much par for the course; several of the director’s spots have been yanked from the air. "A lot of the stuff that I do, unfortunately, gets pulled off the air," he notes. "There’s a list of projects I’ve had that have been pulled." Case in point: a spot for Haggar pants in which a man allows his pet bird to burn while he rescues his slacks from a fire—is but one example of Miller-directed fare that has been pulled by censors. Not that these frequent yankings seem to bother Miller particularly. "I think the thing is, you go for it, and then, hopefully it stays on the air," he says.
Nor does it seem to bother clients. In addition to the aforementioned PSA work, Miller has directed spots for a number of clients, including Sony, ESPN, Carl’s Jr., Jefferson Pilot and Continental Tires.
"Clock," for Jefferson Pilot, out of BaylessCronin, Atlanta, highlights his particular style—a mixture of black humor and narrative trickery. The misdirect—playing mischievously on the viewer’s expectations—is Miller’s signature device. In "Clock" a middle-aged man wakes to the sound of an alarm clock. Drowsily, he rises from his bed, and begins to plod about the house, half-asleep—a familiar scene for anyone who has worked a nine to five job. Instead of hopping into the shower, however, as most viewers doubtlessly expect him to do, the man returns to his bedroom, this time carrying a golf club with which he destroys the beeping alarm clock. Silence reigns. The man gets back into bed, and the spot ends with the tagline "Financial Freedom. It has its advantages."
Still Shot
A still photographer for nearly 15 years, it was a desire to work with narrative that drew Darley Miller into directing. Now, having found success in commercials, he has turned his ambitions towards feature films. When Frank Stiefel, who maintained Miller’s former roost, Stiefel+Company, decided to sell his shop to @radical and become an executive VP there, the changing of the guard was, for Miller, a particularly advantageous move. "Radical has a good relationship with features and films and TV," notes Miller. "They let their directors go back and forth."
He has had the opportunity to direct a feature once before; he was originally tapped to helm the Disney picture Bad Company starring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock. He found, however, that the project was not particularly suited to his tastes. "The thing is," Miller says, "is that it was a very large Bruckheimer movie." For those familiar with Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s oeuvre (Pearl Harbor, Coyote Ugly, Gone In 60 Seconds), this is explanation enough. Given very little creative control over the project, Miller backed out. The film, eventually directed by Joel Schumacher, was a colossal box-office flop. "Pretty much the movie that took down Disney," Miller notes wryly.
Now, however, Miller has his eye on the director’s chair once again, as, in collaboration with screenwriter Karen Croner, he looks to bring Joy Nicholson’s best-selling novel The Tribes of Palos Verdes to the screen. Whatever success he may find in the world of features, however, Miller has no intention of abandoning spotwork. "I wouldn’t leave commercials," he states. "I love commercials. I think they are a form unto themselves."n
