SANTA MONICA—Director Marc Chiat, who had been helming commercials via his Santa Monica-based Red Dog Films, has returned to Green Dot Films, Santa Monica, for exclusive spot representation. He will continue to maintain Red Dog for other projects.
Chiat’s credits over the years include commercials for Coca-Cola, General Motors, Kodak, Anheuser-Busch, Mazda and AT&T. He is perhaps best known for his comedy/dialogue work, reflected in the offbeat humor of the long-running, live-action Foster Farms campaign featuring two out-of-shape, out-of-work chickens via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
The most recent spot in that Foster Farms fare is "Doctor’s Office," in which a physician determines through X-rays that the two chickens aren’t of Foster Farms pedigree; Foster Farms chickens are corn fed, while the X-rays reveal that these wannabes have half-digested pizza in their bodies. When the doctor dons a rubber glove to do "more tests," the chickens jump out the examination room window to escape. Later, they’re seen in their car, laughing because the doctor mistakenly accused them of having eaten pepperoni pizza when in fact it was sausage.
Chiat’s first tour of duty with Green Dot was in 1998, when he pulled Red Dog out of commercials to gain the production and sales support of another production house. He was later briefly repped by now defunct Orbit Productions. When Orbit went out about a year and a half ago, Chiat again made Red Dog his spot roost. His latest work under the Red Dog banner includes commercials for Disney and Tampax, both from Leo Burnett USA, Chicago; the aforementioned Foster Farms ad; and a PSA for a local chapter of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America.
At press time, Chiat was about to embark on his first job this time around at Green Dog, another Disney spot for Leo Burnett.
Chiat related that he decided to return to Green Dot based on the favorable experience he had during his initial tour of duty there—and his affinity for Green Dot founder, director Brent Thomas. "The company feels like family to me. I go back a long way with Brent," said Chiat. "And that’s important, especially in today’s climate."
The director also cited the support team at Green Dot, including executive producer Rick Fishbein and freelancer Sue Crain, who works regularly at the company. Crain has been Chiat’s producer on assorted commercials over the years.
In terms of longform, Chiat is involved in both the feature and TV series disciplines. The latter is a Red Dog project in development, Urban Suburban Legends, which showcases what Chiat described as "freaky moral fables—sort of like Twilight Zone meets MTV"—designed to appeal to kids. Chiat directed the presentation piece for the series and is currently in discussions with studios about the show.
Also in the offing is a feature that Chiat is attached to, San Bernardino, which is tentatively slated to begin shooting in the spring. That project is out of Los Angeles-based independent studio Redson Films.
Chiat comes aboard a spot directorial roster at Green Dot that consists of Thomas, Thom Higgins, Garry Sato and Doug Taub.
Alex Anderson is head of sales and handles the East Coast. Kerri Manus reps Green Dot in the Midwest, while Moira Shevlin covers the West Coast and Texas.
