SANTA MONICA—Director David Jellison, formerly of bicoastal Cohn+Company, has signed with Santa Monica-headquartered Thomas Winter Cooke (TWC) for exclusive spot representation.
Jellison said he was drawn to TWC in large part by executive producer/company partner Mark Thomas’ track record in developing directorial careers. Jellison added that his interest was also piqued by TWC’s feature filmmaking connections via its partner Ralph Winter, who produced X-Men and X-Men 2, and executive produced such films as Planet of the Apes (2001), Inspector Gadget and Blizzard. Winter’s pending projects include X-Men 3 and The Fantastic Four.
"Thomas Winter Cooke is a multi-faceted company," related Jellison. "Mark’s expertise in commercials and Ralph’s in longform make for an interesting dynamic. To have access to that level of experience—particularly as advertising and longform entertainment come together in the branded content world—is advantageous for a director."
Jellison added that he indeed has longform ambitions. The director believes TWC is well positioned to help him realize a successful diversification into feature filmmaking.
Prior to his two-year tenure at Cohn+Company, Jellison spent three years at bicoastal Tool of North America. He broke into Tool on the strength of a spec spot he directed for online realtor springstreet.com, via agency Odiorne Wilde Narraway & Partners (now See), San Francisco, in 1998. Titled "Detectives," the spec piece shows an apartment building’s superintendent calling the police after hearing gunshots. A SWAT team breaks down an apartment door, revealing a grisly murder scene. One officer exclaims, "Oh my God, look at this place!" But he’s not referring to the heinous crime site littered with several corpses—he’s noticing the lovely and spacious apartment. As if they were real estate agents, the detective and his colleague check out the abode, noting features like walk-in closets and a breakfast nook.
This spot helped the agency win the account. Eventually, the commercial ran in five West Coast cities. And on the strength of this work, Jellison signed with Tool, becoming a full-fledged helmer after a dozen years as an assistant director, working with top filmmakers.
The springstreet.com success initially thrust Jellison into the off-the-wall humor of dot-com advertising, including notable work for fogdog.com and petstore.com. While he continues his comedy exploits, Jellison’s brand of ad humor has transitioned from the dot-com fray to subtler fare. His recent credits include spots for Total cereal via Saatchi & Saatchi, New York; Hasbro for Grey Advertising, New York; the National Football League (NFL) for The Geppetto Group, New York; and Scott tissue out of J. Walter Thompson, New York.
Also among Jellison’s latest endeavors are two spec spots he helmed while at Cohn+Company, one for Panasonic, the other for Hummer. The director said that both exhibit his affinity for creatively edgy humor, hearkening back a bit to his dot-com directorial days. Hummer’s "Shopping Cart" for example shows a grocery store cart confidently careening through a parking lot, as if scouting for its next car victim. But the intimidator turns into the intimidated when the cart comes face to face with the grill of a Hummer.
Jellison took a circuitous path to commercial directing. He made his first major mark in music, having been the bass player in the band Ratt. After leaving that band in ’81 (before it became famous), he went on to tour with Van Halen as that band’s crew chief and art director, designing guitars, concert T-shirts and posters. He then served as production assistant on Van Halen’s famed video, "Pretty Woman." Jellison then picked up gigs as an assistant director, initially in videos and then broadening into spots. He assisted such noted helmers as David Fincher, Michael Bay, Tony Kaye, David Kellogg, Peter Smillie, Erich Joiner, David Wild, Charles Wittenmeier and the late Paul Giraud.
TWC’s directorial roster consists of Jellison, James Rouse, Greg Kiefer, Jeff France and company partner Phil Cooke.
