Mounting a temporarily successful British invasion of American cultural soil is not such a difficult feat: As 1960s bands like The Searchers, The Equals, or Herman’s Hermits confirm, the list of Brits who find fleeting glory in the U.S. runs longer than the Transatlantic Cable. It’s stateside staying power that’s difficult to achieve. So too it goes in the world of commercial directors, where, remarkably, the British helming duo Joe Public is beginning to look more like Lennon and McCartney than Gerry and the Pacemakers.
Joe Public—a.k.a. Adam Cameron and Simon Cole—of bicoastal Headquarters recently garnered a coveted Directors Guild of America (DGA) nomination for best commercial director of ’01, and it’s the team’s second nomination in this category in the last three years. Not bad for two London ex-pats who’re just beginning their fourth year based in America. "Our first DGA nomination [in ’99] was a bolt out of the blue," remarks Cameron, "but this year’s nomination is flattering … and a nice confirmation for us." (The DGA award went to Bob Kerstetter, co-founder/creative director at Black Rocket Euro RSCG, San Francisco, whose spot helming endeavors have been through bicoastal Tool of North America.)
Like many successful couples who stick together over an extended period of time—Joe Public’s directing partnership began in England in the early ’90s—Cameron and Cole speak with similar sentence patterns and tend to complement each other effortlessly in a conversation. "We’ve always said that two mildly talented people joining together makes one rather talented director," the two offer in near-unison agreement, when asked how they’ve managed to stay a team for almost a decade.
This year Joe Public’s directing talent produced a six-spot DGA entry card, which includes Toyota’s "Subtitles," out of Saatchi & Saatchi LA, Torrance, Calif.; Visa’s "Baby Talk"; and Cingular Wireless’ "Touchdown Dance School," both through BBDO New York. Rounding out the compilation are three commercials for 7-Up: "Calendar," "Captive Audience" and "Singers" via Young & Rubicam (Y&R), New York.
"The 7-Up campaign was a risk for us," says Cole, "because we were taking on an established campaign … and also working [in ‘Singers’ and ‘Captive Audience’] with an actor that was given to us. But we did develop those scripts quite closely with the agency." The results are three chuckle-inducing send-ups of, respectively, swimsuit photo shoots, prison documentaries and Coca-Cola-sponsored mountaintop sing-alongs.
When asked to name its favorite DGA-nominated spot, Joe Public specifies "Touchdown Dance School," which features an ancient, but still dynamic, ballet instructor attempting to impart some dance moves to a group of burly footballers. The teacher asks the men to imitate peacocks, camels—even trees—all in the name of Cingular: "The wireless company that believes in the joy of self expression."
"It was a pleasure working with that actor," remembers Cameron. "Actually he wasn’t an actor—he was an old-school Russian ballet dancer [named Felix Fibich] cast from a studio in New York—and at the beginning of the shoot, he was not treated with the hugest amount of respect by the footballers. But by the end of the two shoot days, they had nothing but respect for him. He also got [the players] to do a few ballet-style exercises, and it was very entertaining to watch how difficult some of it was. I think one of the reasons [the spot] was popular is that a lot of what you see wasn’t a part of the actual script."
Both men were on hiatus from their jobs as casting directors in London when they met—completely by chance—on a Greek beach almost 15 years ago. When asked if they still cast their own spots, Joe Public’s reply was terse: "We don’t cast," states Cameron.
"We do as much of our own ‘suggesting’ as possible," says Cole, alluding to the fact that the pair likes to have a hand in determining which actors—or non-actors—appear in its spots. "Obviously we know pretty well who and who not to use," Cole chimes in.
"Our casting experience is played up," continues Cameron, "but we weren’t casting directors for very long, frankly. We just pride ourselves on having a strong opinion of who we think is right."
If the duo’s oeuvre tends toward the weird, perhaps it’s because both men entered the advertising world through unorthodox channels: Cameron majored in classics at Warwick University, Coventry, England, and then "worked at various terrible jobs," drifting between positions at several different London gentlemen’s clothing boutiques. Cole studied theater at the Royal Academy in London and then spent three years on the road with a feminist theater company, where he "wrote and played every male bastard you could possibly imagine."
After their first meeting in Greece, the two men returned to London and teamed up to direct a spec PSA, the strength of which quickly landed them a series of spots for British Rail. Soon after, Joe Public won its first European spot representation with Stark Films, London. They are currently repped in Europe by the London and Paris offices of Partizan.
Stateside Success
Headquarters partner/executive producer Tom Mooney noticed the pair early on, having been impressed by its British Rail work in ’93. Mooney signed Joe Public for American representation that year, and the team has remained with Headquarters ever since. During its first years in the U.S. market, the duo’s quirky style didn’t find a warm acceptance. Remembered Mooney, "It wasn’t easy at first, because Joe Public’s sense of humor was seen as too ‘European,’ … What broke them out was a spot called ‘Sizes’ for Cracker Jack [via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco]," explains Mooney. "The client saw the spot and put it on the Super Bowl in place of another spot … and things really took off from there."
Presently, Joe Public is continuing its steady workload directing American commercials. The duo recently completed two spots—"Carlene" and "Bees"—for Budweiser via DDB Chicago. And these days Cameron and Cole don’t rule out a foray into feature filmmaking. "We’d rather make great commercials than slightly substandard features," says Cole, "but that doesn’t mean we won’t be looking at any offers we get. And writing something—the way the Coen brothers do—is also a strong consideration."
Like the Minnesotan directing team, which Cameron refers to as "heroes of ours," Joe Public is often referred to by colleagues as simply, "the boys." And Cole concludes somewhat facetiously: "We think we can improve on the Coen brothers. There’s a slight lack of humanity in their work."
