NEW YORK—Bob Balaban, a prolific director/producer/actor/writer, will be available for spot directing assignments via Washington Square Films, New York.
As a director, Balaban’s feature film credits include the 1989 black comedy Parents and ’94’s The Last Good Time, which he also wrote and produced. Additionally, Balaban has directed dozens of episodes of television shows such as Tales from the Darkside, Oz and Strangers with Candy. His producing credits include director Robert Altman’s ’01 feature Gosford Park, which he also conceptualized.
Classic movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Altered States and the aforementioned Gosford Park and comedic flicks including Waiting for Guffman and A Mighty Wind (both directed by Christopher Guest who is represented for commercials by bicoastal Go Film) are among the dozens of credits on Balaban’s long acting r?sum?. But he is probably most often recognized for playing Russell Dalrymple, the NBC executive on Seinfeld whose affections for Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) were not reciprocated.
While Balaban is a known quantity in the film and television worlds, he expressed to SHOOT a desire to delve more deeply into the spot world. "I like the idea of [working] with a very short format with a finite end to it within which you can be as creative as you can manage," Balaban remarked, noting, "I do all of these things that take so long. I mean, Gosford Park was quick, but most of the things that I produce have been going on for years and years and years."
Balaban isn’t a stranger to commercials, by the way. He has acted in numerous spots, was the voice of Kool-Aid for 15 years, and signed with New York-based Half Baked Productions to direct spots a couple of years ago (SHOOT, 1/19/01, p. 7). Through Half Baked Productions, Balaban helmed a spot campaign for the Liberty Project created by The Sloan Group, New York. Then last year, Balaban wrote, produced and directed an animated image campaign for the Independent Film Channel (IFC).
It was while working on a First Amendment rights special for Court TV and the Sundance Channel that Balaban came into contact with Washington Square Films. The production company is co-producing the project with Balaban, who is also writing and directing it. When Balaban learned that Washington Square Films also produced commercials, he shared his interest in the arena.
After viewing Balaban’s reel of work, including a short Showtime film called The Wedding Toast in which Eric Bogosian gives what may be the most humorously disastrous toast in wedding history, Washington Square Films head of sales/marketing Jonathan Schwartz was sold on Balaban. "I’ve watched that reel twenty times, and I still laugh out loud," Schwartz said.
Balaban’s reel also features the previously noted IFC campaign, which spoofs the moviemaking business. Case in point: One of the spots finds a Hollywood type pitching studio executives on his idea for a film in which his leading lady is "a beautiful, terminally ill, Polish lesbian whose religious beliefs forbid the wearing of clothing of any kind." Additionally, the reel showcases clips from an episode of the cult Comedy Central hit Strangers With Candy as well as scenes from an offbeat pilot called Sex and the Suburbs that Balaban produced, directed and starred in.
"If you have to find a niche [in spots], mine is the dry humor niche. I suppose an idol of mine would be Howard Zieff, who I know and think is great," Balaban shared, referring to the director famous in the advertising world for the Alka-Seltzer "Mamma Mia, That’s A Spicy Meatball" spot and feature films such as ’73’s Slither and ’80’s Private Benjamin.
"As a salesperson, I can tell you right now that I’m going to go out there and sell him hard, and he’s going to be a really important part of the company," Schwartz said. "He’s already committed to making himself available, and I think people are going to respond to his work."
