Who will be the A-list directors of the future? SHOOT has singled out five helmers, who through the work they’ve already done, have shown the potential to become go-to guys for commercial production. They have diverse backgrounds: three have some type of ad agency experience, ranging from planner to art director to copywriter. One is a veteran of high quality television series work, while another is a recent film school graduate. What the quintet has in common are talent, drive and serious potential.
PETER LYDON
“When you’ve directed a whole lot of different kinds of things like I have, bringing that into commercials isn’t a difficult fit,” says director Peter Lydon, who recently signed with bicoastal/international Hungry Man. “What’s nice about the commercial world, from my point of view, is when you do a telly [television program] thing, you sign on for six months, and all your creative energies go into that. And the nice thing about commercials is you’re more creative more of the time because the turnaround is quicker; you get to move through different genres and styles–you get to play, and I like that.”
Until recently, the British director was known primarily for his TV series work in the U.K. on shows such as Shameless and Teachers for the BBC, and the miniseries Island At War, which aired on Masterpiece Theater in the U.S. last year. His latest television endeavor, Vincent, stars Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast; Cold Mountain) as private detective Vincent Gallagher, who deals with domestic issues both professionally and personally; it premiered earlier this month on ITV.
Since signing with Hungry Man a few months back, Lydon has turned out ads for the likes of U.K. telecommunications company Orange, insurance company AXA, The Discovery Channel, and the Manhattan Short Film Festival. For the latter, Lydon directed “Searching for Starbucks,” a black-and-white spot that’s a sendup of overly dramatic short films in foreign languages. In it, a woman sulks around her apartment, smoking and throwing things around, as though looking for something; she puts on shoes and coat, steps outside and sees the object of her search: A Starbucks. The project was done via Publicis, New York. Lydon got involved in the spot via his connection with festival founder/director Nicholas Mason, who encouraged the director–winner of a screenwriting honor at the ’04 Festival for his short film Silent Treatment–to approach the agency about the project. Lydon was pleased with the experience, and liked working with Publicis.
Lydon has also directed several documentary projects, including films about the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and actor Peter Sellers. It was because of his documentary work that Lydon was initially introduced to the advertising world. “Some years ago, I met and got to know Trevor Beattie,” relates Lydon, referring to the former chairman/creative director of TBWA/London, who is now a principal in London shop Beattie McGuiness Bungay. “He knew some of my work as a documentary maker.” Beattie gave Lydon a script for a French Connection ad that was part of the “FCUK” campaign out of TBWA–Lydon took a crack at a treatment and was awarded the job. The resulting spot, “Frumpy Caroline,” was produced via London’s Tomboy Films. “I was at the same time getting some quite good television work,” relates Lydon, “so I didn’t stick with [commercial directing], because basically, it was quite risky. I would have had to stop doing television work, and hope that one commercial could have generated others. And I didn’t feel I was established enough in terms of drama to want to do that.”
This year, feeling the time was right to pursue commercialmaking in earnest, he met with Matt Buels, the executive producer of Hungry Man’s London office, and thought the company would be a good fit. “Things were working out in terms of television work,” relates Lydon, “and I liked their work. I also liked the fact that [Buels] and Hungry Man have a different attitude towards my experience–they didn’t look at it and think, ‘he hasn’t done any commercials.’ They looked at it and thought ‘he really knows what to do, he knows how to direct, he knows how to tell a story.’ ” Lydon also likes that the company had launched directors from other disciplines before, pointing to the success of Allen Coulter, who prior to signing with Hungry Man was primarily known for TV work like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under.
“I love it,” says Lydon of commercials. “I’ve only been with them a couple of months, but I’ve shot a lot of stuff.” In addition to “Searching for Starbucks,” Lydon has also directed s series of AXA idents via JWT, London, that precede drama programs on ITV. “Whodunnit,” “Morgue,” and “Love On The Lawn” take a particular genre and inject AXA products into it. For instance, in “Whodunnit,” a detective in an Agatha Christie-style mystery turns to a suspect, but instead of accusing him of murder, he notes that man has AXA health insurance. The supered tag “ITV3 British Drama in Association with AXA” follows. He’s also directed “Ewan McGregor” for Orange and Mother, London, and a viral for Friends of the Earth, out of CHI, London.
At the moment, Lydon is working on a script for a feature film, Faking It, about a cellist who raises money for music school by training to win a DJing contest. The film, which Lydon will direct, is set to shoot next year. He’s mulling over spot projects, and hopes to do more work in the U.S. “This is a general comment about my experience in commercials,” says Lydon. “The collaboration with the creatives is really good. Not to say that that didn’t happen in television, but I think it’s a very open collaboration in advertising.”
