Suthon Petchsuwan of Matching Studio, Bangkok–the world’s most awarded commercials director of 2004, according to the ’05 Gunn Report–is making his first stateside production company foray, entering into an agreement with Santa Monica-based Thomas Winter Cooke (TWC) for exclusive representation in the U.S.
Just a few select directors have placed in the top 25 per the Gunn Report’s annual tally each of the past six years: Frank Budgen of Gorgeous Enterprises, London (who’s repped in the U.S. by bicoastal Anonymous Content); the Traktor collective of bicoastal/international Partizan; and Petchsuwan. The Gunn Report, which is a compilation of award show results, covers more than 30 TV/cinema competitions. From this research, the Gunn Report has annually named the industry’s top production companies, directors, ad agencies, commercials, campaigns and clients.
Petchsuwan, who speaks English, broke into the directorial ranks in 1993 with Matching Studio. He came over to the production company from the agency creative side of the business. He was an art director at Kenyon & Eckhardt, Bangkok, and then a creative director at SSC&B Lintas, Bangkok. For Lintas, he worked on such accounts as Unilever and Caltex (Texaco).
Much of Petchsuwan’s directorial fare is people-based storytelling ranging from humor to poignant pieces. His number one directorial standing in the ’05 Gunn Report was on the strength of such comedic work as the Soken DVD Player campaign (“Kill Bill Kill Bill,” “Titititanic,” and “X-X-X”) for Euro RSCG Flagship, Bangkok, and Unif Green Tea’s “Worms,” out of BBDO Bangkok.
The Soken commercials tell the tale of how a malfunctioning DVD player, with incessant skipping, starting and stopping, can have a profoundly negative effect on its owners. In “Kill Bill Kill Bill,” a white-collar guy corners a co-worker in the office kitchen to tell him about the Kill Bill DVD that he rented. But he keeps freezing in mid-sentence and repeating himself over and over again. “Then she sta…sta…sta…sta…stabs one of the gangsters,” he describes. “Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly.” The other guy is clearly perplexed. The explanation is that the first man’s DVD player is fraught with technical glitches. Soken DVD’s tag is simply, “Plays smoothly.” The other two ads in the package are similarly themed, to great comedic effect.
Unif Green Tea’s “Worms” takes us out to a field where cartoon father and son caterpillars are climbing up a tea plant. The dad urges his lad to climb to the top where the best leaves are–but a human has beaten him to that destination. The child caterpillar sobs that it wants the top leaves. However the human tealeaf picker isn’t about to relinquish this choice crop. The caterpillar resorts to hypnotism but the person mightily resists. The exchange underscores that Unif Green Tea is brewed from only the best leaves.
According to Gunn Report research, the Soken campaign was the third most awarded TV/cinema spotwork in ’04. Unif Green Tea’s “Worms” was right behind, tied for fourth.
TWC partner/executive producer Mark Thomas became familiar with Petchsuwan’s work and sought him out during a trip earlier this month to Thailand. There Thomas attended the Asia Pacific Advertising Festival. During the festival, Thomas’ overtures to Petchsuwan and Matching Studio proved successful, as the TWC exec finalized the deal to rep the director in the U.S. Thomas believes the director’s filmmaking sensibilities and storytelling/comedy prowess will translate well in the American advertising market.
Petchsuwan said, “The chemistry with TWC feels good, which leads to good ideas and good work.” TWC’s connection to the film industry through partner/co-founder Ralph Winter (producer of such movies as X-Men and X-Men 2) also proved appealing in that Petchsuwan harbors feature directorial ambitions.
The signing of Petchsuwan continues what has been a far-reaching international scout for directorial talent on the part of TWC. Thomas and Winter recently went to London and came back with three directors: Seamus Masterson, Elliot Hegarty and Martin Brierley (SHOOT, 3/11, p. 1). The latter has moved stateside. TWC also continues to represent its U.S.-based roster of helmers: Jeff France, Michael Fueter, David Jellison and Greg Kiefer.
