LOS ANGELES—Little Minx@ RSA, the Los Angeles-based satellite of bicoastal RSA USA and London-based RSA Films, has signed director Christian Lyngbye for exclusive U.S. commercial representation. Lyngbye will continue to maintain longstanding relationships with La Pac Films, Paris, which represents him in France; Easy Films, Copenhagen, which handles him in Scandinavia; and Stillking Films, Prague, which sells the director worldwide in territories where he is not already covered.
Lyngbye heralded his new affiliation with Little Minx@ RSA as particularly significant in that it marks the first time he has been represented in the United States. The Denmark native aims to make a name for himself in America. "It is very important for me and is now the step that I would like to focus on," Lyngbye said. "I would really like to work regularly in the American market—not just come in and do one [project] a year like some European that is not really part of the market. I’m even considering moving to the States on a permanent basis."
The director, who currently resides in Copenhagen, said he may relocate to Los Angeles or New York, but he will give the move more serious consideration after he has shot a few jobs for American clients. Lyngbye isn’t a stranger to the United States; the director reported that he has shot about 20 jobs in America for European clients, mainly in Los Angeles. "I love it. It’s the best place to shoot," Lyngbye said. "It works like a machine. It’s so professional. Everybody knows what to do. Everybody knows how it works, and you feel that it is a big industry. It’s Hollywood."
Lyngbye began his career working in television back home in Denmark. "Like many people, I worked my way up through the system from nothing," Lyngbye said. He labored in various capacities, from an editor to a producer on television documentaries, news and entertainment programs, and he co-founded Denmark’s first privately held television network, Kanal 2, in the late 1980s.
It was about 10 years ago that Lyngbye embarked on a career as a director. According to Lyngbye, he has been directing on an international basis for about five years. His reel includes spots for AXA, Club Internet, France Telecom, Nomad, Renault and Sprite.
"Bikers," the spot for financial services company AXA, centers on a biker who is worried about his street reputation because while his biker friends tool around on motorcycles, this biker/family man drives a minivan. Another ad for Club Internet called "Baby Boom" depicts a man and a woman having sex. Within seconds, her belly balloons. She is not only pregnant—she is about to give birth. The ad, which promotes the speedy Internet connection Club Internet offers users, strives to show how fast things can happen these days.
The work on Lyngbye’s reel is comedic, yet he melds humorous stories with film-quality visuals. "I think when you tell a story—even if it is comedic—you might as well make it visual," Lyngbye said. "This is a visual medium so why not?"
Little Minx@RSA executive producer Rhea Rupert, who noted she tends to sign visually oriented directors, said the addition of Lyngbye to Little Minx@RSA’s directorial lineup broadens her company’s horizons—specifically into the comedy arena.
Rupert credited Holly Ross—who, along with Kelley Evans, handles West Coast sales for Little Minx@RSA—with bringing Lyngbye’s work to her attention. "She was telling me she got this exciting new reel," Rupert recalled. "She has such great taste-when she says to me, ‘I saw a reel you need to check out,’ I’m all ears."
Rupert was immediately taken in by Lyngbye’s reel. "I couldn’t wait to stop the tape so I could get on the phone to call Holly and say, ‘We have to go and get this guy,’ " she shared.
According to Lyngbye, his reel began circulating in the United States in recent months and immediately generated a lot of interest. "A lot of major companies in the States actually called me within a short time period," he said. Lyngbye chose to join Little Minx@RSA in large part because of the company’s reputation and affiliation with RSA. "RSA is, to me, like a dream company," Lyngbye remarked.
Lyngbye joins a Little Minx@ RSA directorial roster that comprises Laurent Briet, Johnny Hardstaff, Christophe Navarre, Malik Hassan Sayeed and Mark Seliger.
Sales for Little Minx@RSA are handled by the aforementioned Ross and Evans on the West Coast; Philip Fox-Mills and Alan Lopez represent the company on the East Coast; Chris Karabas covers the Midwest; and Ed Rivero does sales in Latin America.
