SANTA MONICA-Crash Films, a Santa Monica-headquartered production house, has signed director Keva Rosenfeld for commercial and music video representation.
For the last three years, Rosenfeld was affiliated with Santa Monica and London-based Tony K. for spot work. This was preceded by a brief stint at bicoastal Headquarters. Among his credits is a commercial for France Telecom, "Distress Cry," via BBDO/ Paris, which won a ’98 Cannes Silver Lion. The ad shows a man on the phone emitting baby-like cries. It’s later revealed that he’s trying to imitate his infant’s wailing. At the other end of the phone conversation is the grown man’s mother who has been asked to interpret what the baby’s crying means. Her diagnosis: "You used to cry like that when you were wet."
In addition, Rosenfeld has helmed "Skatorade" and "Boy Blue" for Gatorade via Foote, Cone & Belding, Chicago; McDonald’s "Barbershop" for Leo Burnett Co., Chicago; "Rollerblader" for Russell Athletic via Fitzgerald+CO., Atlanta and "The Lesson" for Houston Lighting & Power out of Taylor Speier Group, Houston.
Rosenfeld, who has a background in editing and documentary-style projects, credits Tony K. for taking a chance on him and helping develop his spot career. "From a creative point of view," said Rosenfeld, "it was a great place to enter the commercial world because it was a company that was oriented toward the work and the creative opportunities you can have. But [director Tony Kaye’s] name is on the door and, at a certain point, you have to move on if you want to grow."
Like Tony K., Crash Films is a company drawn to the work, observed Rosenfeld. "I like the guys at Crash a lot," said Rosenfeld. "They seem really down to earth and there’s not a lot of pretense to them. It felt right. It seemed we had similar sensibilities."
Rosenfeld specializes in dialogue and people work. He noted that-for him-80 percent of the job of directing has to do with casting. "Everything for me starts with what faces and personalities you put in front of the camera," said Rosenfeld, who added he also tends to be very involved editorially in jobs. "I think most [spot] directors aren’t as thorough as that, so I think that’s what Crash appreciated."
Crash Films co-executive producer Gary Ward affirmed that working with talent is Rosenfeld’s strong suit. Ward cited the director’s aforementioned spots for Gatorade and McDonald’s as particularly impressive in terms of dialogue and performance. "I just think there’s an interesting energy to the way he uses the camera and works with people that I really like," said Ward. "And in a lot of ways, he’s perfect for commercials: wonderful on the [conference] call, great with clients, great ideas."
Rosenfeld’s longform directorial credits include the ’94 Columbia/TriStar feature film Twenty Bucks. Starring Elisabeth Shue, Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi, the movie is the story of a twenty dollar bill’s journey in and out of the lives of people to whom it changes hands. He also helmed a theatrically released ’89 feature documentary, All American High, which details life at a suburban middle-class high school. Rosenfeld spent a year filming at a high school.
In addition, Rosenfeld has extensive directorial experience in television programming, including 40 episodes of the NBC series Unsolved Mysteries in addition to such documentary TV specials as NBC’s Have You Seen This Person? and ABC’s Rich, Thin and Beautiful."
Rosenfeld attended USC Film School, Los Angeles, where he graduated with a degree in cinema in ’80. He then spent seven years working as freelance editor. His editorial credits include shorts for NBC’s Saturday Night Live, music videos for such artists as Lou Reed and Ziggy Marley and assorted television specials.
Rosenfeld joins a Crash directors’ roster also comprised of Billy Kent, Gerald V. Casale, Robin Willis, Nancy Bardawil, Len Wiseman, Rubin Whitmore, Geoff Moore and Bill Barminski. The company is repped by L.A.-based Siobhan McCafferty on the West Coast, Chicago-based Sherry Owens in the Midwest and by New York-based Marc VanDermeer (director Kent only) and Heidi Gottlieb and Doug Wedeck on the East Coast.
