Bicoastal The Joneses has signed director Zosimo Maximo, director of the MTV series Room Raiders, for exclusive spot representation. This marks his first career affiliation for ads, though he had garnered recognition last year as a director from the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show. Maximo was honored in the best student commercial category of the AICP competition.
Maximo has already wrapped his first job under The Joneses’ banner, a package of multicultural spots for Ford out of J. Walter Thompson’s Miami-based Burson-Marsteller unit. Themed “Ride it Like a Ford,” the music video-style lensed commercials feature 17-year-old Miami singer JemCarlos Canela, whose vocal performance is intercut with vignettes involving five young people of different ethnic backgrounds.
“The agency gave us a lot of creative freedom…,” said Maximo of the Ford assignment. “Our intent was to capture the attitude and sexiness of the Miami area and put it into a video format that would speak to our target audience of young adults.”
Mel Gragido, executive producer of The Joneses, said he was drawn to Maximo’s mix of advertising experience and reality TV sensibilities. In the latter genre, Maximo has helmed the reality dating series Kick Back for BET and the MTV car show Trick it Out. “I think there is a market for reality-based advertising that isn’t currently being served because few directors, who do the reality format well, also understand advertising,” related Gragido, who believes Maximo helps to fill that void.
Maximo took a circuitous route to a directorial career. He studied to be a fashion designer at the Parsons School of Design, New York, and went onto work as a stylist for Prada and Gucci. He then began styling for spot and music video shoots, which inspired him to pursue directorial studies. He enrolled at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, earning a master’s degree in’03. His student work including a spec spot, “Matt Johnson,” for adidas, which earned him the aforementioned AICP Show honor. While still in school, Maximo began helming music videos, such as “No Hay Manera” for Akwid, a group that went on to win two Latin Grammy Awards.
The Joneses is repped by Marianne McCarley on the East Coast, Doug Stieber & Co. in the Midwest, and Grace Silverstein of Reel Grace on the West Coast.
