LOS ANGELES—The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has named its nominees for best commercial director of 2004: Dante Ariola of bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ); Fredrik Bond, also of MJZ; Andrew Douglas of bicoastal Anonymous Content; Jim Jenkins of bicoastal/international Hungry Man; and Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles.
None of the nominees has won the coveted DGA spot director of the year award before. However, both Ariola and Murro have been nominated three times. Bond, Douglas and Jenkins are first-time nominees.
Murro holds the distinction of being nominated each of the last three years. He earned his latest nomination on the strength of three spots: Starbucks? ?Glen? for Fallon, New York; adidas? ?Carry,? out of TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco; and eBay?s ?Toy Boat? for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
Ariola was previously nominated for best director of ?00 and ?02. This time around he received the DGA nod for Stella Artois? ?Circus? from Lowe, London; Levi?s ?Urban Legend? via BBH, New York; and Barclay?s ?Money Tree? for BBH, London.
Two of Ariola?s three entries being foreign spots underscores how the DGA competition has opened up to include more international fare. Last year was the first in which the Guild permitted all work directed by members under a DGA agreement—including commercials from outside the U.S.—to be eligible for the commercial award. As it turns out, the DGA honoree for best spot helmer of ?03, David Fincher of Anonymous Content, won on the strength of three ads, one of which was a U.K. spot, Xelibri phones? ?Beauty For Sale,? for Mother, London.
A year later, foreign commercials have become more prominent in the field of DGA nominees. Besides Ariola?s pair of spots from London ad shops, all three of first-time nominee Bond?s entries came out of European agencies: mobile phone company Three?s ?Cherry? and ?Jelly Fish? for WCRS, London; and Nike?s ?The Other Game? via Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam.
In the mix of entries from Anonymous Content?s Douglas was a European spot for Renault out of Publicis, London. The balance of Douglas-helmed ads consisted of Pricewaterhouse Coopers? ?The Air? from Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopulos, Boston, Barclay?s ?New Day? out of Venables, Bell & Partners, San Francisco, and Microsoft?s ?Hat? via McCann-Erickson, San Francisco.
Hungry Man?s Jenkins earned his first career DGA nomination on the basis of four spots: Discovery Channel?s ?Antlers? and ?Milk Truck? via his boutique New York creative shop nicebigbrain; Nextel?s ?Dance Party? for TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York; and TBS? ?Strange Fruit? from Publicis, New York.
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While the inclusion of foreign commercials is in its second year, the DGA continues a practice it instituted five years ago in the spot category—namely, crediting the first and/or second assistant directors, as well as unit production managers, who worked on the nominated commercials.
Gary Feil was first assistant director on the Murro-helmed ?Carry? for adidas and ?Toy Boat? for eBay. Robert Kay and James Veal were second assistant directors on the same two spots. Brian Stevens also served as second assistant director on ?Carry.? For Murro?s other entry, Starbucks? ?Glen,? James Giovannetti was first assistant director and Susie Balaban the second assistant director.
For the two Jenkins-directed Discovery Channel ads, ?Milk Truck? and ?Antlers,? Pierre Cailliarec and Ralph Laucella were first and second assistant directors, respectively. Cailliarec was also first assistant director on TBS? ?Strange Fruit,? with Trent De Haan the second assistant director. Ken LiCata, Jr., was first assistant director and Martin Obysovky the second assistant director on Jenkins? ?Dance Party? for Nextel.
Craig Pinckes was first assistant director on the Douglas-directed ?Fell It? for Renault and ?The Air? for Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Paul Schmitz was second assistant director on ?Fell It? and Ethan Ross served in the same capacity for ?The Air.? Ian Brister was first assistant director on Microsoft?s ?Hat.? And for Barclay?s ?New Day,? Steven Carmendy was first assistant director and Roger Barth the second assistant director.
At press time, full assistant director credits were not available for two of the three Bond-directed entries. However, for Three?s ?Jelly Fish,? Chuck Conner was first assistant director, Mark Frishman the second assistant director and Susan Levin the unit production manager.
Ariola?s entries had Scott Thaler as first assistant director on Stella Artois? ?Circus, Steven Fernandez as first assistant director on Levi?s ?Urban Legend? and Barclay?s ?Money Tree,? Stephen Killebrew as second assistant director on ?Money Tree? and Natalie Hill as unit production manager for ?Urban Legend.?
The DGA Awards are in their 57th year. The DGA opened the annual competition to commercial directors in 1980. This year?s DGA Award winners—spanning theatrical features, TV, documentaries and commercials—will be announced and honored during a gala ceremony in Los Angeles on Jan. 29.
