I believe the craft of directing isn’t a comedy craft or an image craft or a drama craft or a visual craft," says Andrews Jenkins, who directs spots via Food Chain Films, Portland, Ore. "You have to tell the story that’s put in front of you. If I can do that through humor, then that’s the tool for the job; if I can do that through cinematic imagery, then that’s the tool. The industry is very prone to pigeonholing people into one genre or another. Some of the people I find to be the most inspirational are the ones that extend beyond those genres."
Jenkins’ reel contains an impressive range of work, including Budweiser’s "Goodbye," out of DDB Chicago, which aired during this year’s Super Bowl broadcast. The spot is visually stylish, funny and it also tells a story. The ad shows a couple—NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and an attractive woman—kissing goodbye at an airport. Before boarding a small jet, she coos, "I’ll call you when I get to L.A." After her plane takes off, Earnhardt realizes that the woman left her lipstick on his Corvette’s passenger seat. He swings into action, speeding through the desert to get to L.A. first. Upon her arrival, the woman spots Earnhardt waiting for her, and she’s pleasantly surprised. Earnhardt gallantly hands her the lipstick—which causes her smile to sour. "This isn’t mine," she says flatly, and Earnhardt’s smile vanishes too.
"The vision for it from the beginning was for it [to be] a small feature film and [to] take Dale out of the environment that everybody is used to seeing him in," relates Jenkins. "Instead of portraying him as a NASCAR prototypical athlete, let’s give him this almost James Bond, suave, debonair, cinematic, larger-than-life feel, but then bring it back and use the same old personal humor."
Bicoastal Go Film and Food Chain Films have a representation deal whereby Go handles national representation for Food Chain helmers Jenkins, Marc Greenfield and Vance Malone. Jenkins says the arrangement allows him to take on smaller jobs without worrying about a big overhead.
Jenkins got the go-ahead on the "Goodbye" job because the brewer liked some Budweiser spots that Jenkins helmed for the Canadian market a couple of years ago. Last year that Canadian work—and the fact that Jenkins had worked with celebrity athletes such as Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Tiger Woods—led to Jenkins helming "Interview," a quirky Budweiser spot that also features Earnhardt. Jenkins and Earnhardt hit it off, and when "Goodbye" came along, Jenkins got the nod.
Visual style
In a package for Outdoor Life Network, which includes the spots "The Cyclysm," "Cyclyst" and "Cycloposition," via McCann-Erickson, New York, Jenkins again combines genres. The spots, which promote the network’s coverage of the 2004 Tour de France, manage to successfully incorporate dazzling visuals—motion design was done by bicoastal Imaginary Forces—strong performance and strange, subtle humor.
The ads feature actor Jason Lee (Vanilla Sky, Dogma) holding forth in an elegant old theater. Looking a little loony with his beard and plastered-down hair, he speaks in the dramatic tones of a preacher. Images of swirling clouds, flashing light and the great cyclist Lance Armstrong serve as a backdrop as he shouts, "People of all nations, prepare to rise up and witness Lance Armstrong’s quest for an unprecedented sixth consecutive Tour De France!" He continues with his oration before concluding with the line, "Behold the Cyclysm."
Lee’s character was based on the photographer played by Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now. "We really wanted him to have this crazed prophet character, and [Lee] just ate that up," says Jenkins.
The director reports that he could have filmed Lee in front of a green screen, but he wanted to give the actor something to work with. "I was very adamant about putting it in a real theater and making him play to the theater and make it feel almost Shakespearean," he says. "And it worked. Just the environment—without anything else there for him to interact with—brought the best of the actor out."
Recently, Jenkins has done work for MTV, including "Donut," which promotes voting, Xbox via McCann-Erickson, and spots for BMW and MTV through Publicis NY. He has been directing spots for about three and a half years. He got his start in the industry working on the Nike account at Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., where he was a copywriter for a short time. Jenkins says that even though his stint with the agency was brief, he learned important lessons there. "What that did was teach me the value of what the agency brings to the table," he says. "More than anything, I want to be a collaborator with the agency to make the best spot possible. These people have lived and bled and sweated this work by the time I got to it. I want to be respectful of that and do everything I can to elevate it."
Jenkins believes that creatives can tell from looking at his reel that he’s capable of directing different kinds of projects. "I truly have faith in creatives and in the agencies," he says "I have faith that they can look at a reel and say, ‘Okay, if he can do A and he can do Z, then surely he can do B, C, D, E and F. [The variety] is what keeps me really excited about work. The last thing you want to do is go in and do the same old thing. I never want to do that."Z
