LONDON—Large, the London production house formed last September by the merger of Spectre and Stark Films, both in London, and headed up by award-winning directors Daniel Kleinman and Jeff Stark, is closing its doors after its current jobs have been completed.
According to its executives, Large was profitable, and over the last year has produced jobs for such clients as Johnnie Walker, Lynx and Nike. However, the firm is shuttering because of the divergent interests of its two principal directors, and because of their desire to focus on helming rather than the day-to-day management of a production house.
"The original idea was to take pressure off Danny and myself, and make a company that was less reliant on our [having a high turnover]," said Stark. "Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out that way. [Also,] I want to pursue other goals [in addition to] commercials, so I need a business base that frees me up to do that. Thankfully, we all part as good friends." Stark and his producer, Cathy Green, are currently exploring options with other production companies.
The two directors initially saw the shop as being able to offer agencies a wealth of directorial talent, as well as provide a creative sounding board for the spot helmers repped by the company. "The company isn’t closing because of the people, as everyone in the company gave their all," noted Kleinman, who, along with his producer, Johnnie Frankel, will be pursuing commercial projects. Kleinman is well known for his spotwork, which includes ads such as "Fish" for Johnnie Walker, out of Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), London; Xbox’s "Champagne," out of BBH; and John West Salmon’s "Bear," out of Leo Burnett, London.
In addition to Kleinman and Stark, Large handled U.K. representation for directors Steve Bendelack, Siri Bunford, Simon Green, Colin Gregg (who is repped stateside by Sandi Mollod & Associates, New York), Sandra Goldbacher, John Lloyd, Enda McCallion (who is repped in the U.S. by Form, Los Angeles), Dominic Savage, and the team of Tash & Tanya. Gregg has already signed with Therapy Films, London; the other helmers are now weighing offers from other shops. Stephen Gash, co-managing director at Large, along with Bertie Miller, is considering opportunities within the industry. Miller plans to take some time off.
The company also had a music video division, X-Large, and a representation arrangement with bicoastal Epoch Films called Epoch at Large, whereby Epoch’s directors would be repped in the U.K. by the team at Large. It is likely that both divisions will continue as separate entities, although whether they will be stand-alone operations or part of other production companies was undecided at press time.
