Bicoastal Headquarters has added director Richie Smyth, formerly of bicoastal RSA USA, and tabletop director/cameraman Jerry Simpson to its roster. Simpson is closing his nearly 10-year-old Simpson Films, Long Island City, N.Y., so that he can shed himself of managerial/administrative responsibilities to focus fully on directing at Headquarters.
Smyth, who continues to maintain his Dublin, Ireland-based spot shop Blinder, has done a mix of international jobs this past year, ranging from Motorola for Ogilvy & Mather, Paris, to Eurotel out of Leo Burnett, Prague, to a DVD for U2, which accompanies the band’s latest CD. The DVD, “U2 & 3,” is a documentary chronicling the development of music for the CD while featuring live performances of songs that are from the CD but the renditions of which are quite different. This bonus DVD, with U2 and lead singer Bono performing CD tracks in ways that cannot be seen or heard elsewhere, is an incentive to get consumers to buy the CD rather than downloading the music from the Internet. The U2 DVD was produced via Dublin production house Solotoo.
Smyth said that the volume of his varied work this past year precluded him from taking on several U.S. assignments via RSA. But now he hopes to make his schedule more accommodating for American ad projects, conjecturing that there may be more such opportunities by virtue of his being part of a smaller roster at Headquarters. Smyth is no stranger to the U.S. ad market. His client-direct PETA ad, “Anti-fur,” was short listed at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in 2002; he also helmed some Procter & Gamble fare for Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, and a U.S. ad campaign for the Nature Conservancy via Eisner & Associates, Baltimore.
Prior to RSA, Smyth was repped stateside by now defunct Satellite. Smyth first established himself as a still photographer in Ireland and then diversified into music videos, the big splash coming with U2’s “The Fly,” followed by clips for other noted artists, including Bon Jovi. Smyth later moved into commercials. His spot reel today consists largely of people- and visual-driven storytelling, as evidenced by the Motorola, Eurotel and Nature Conservancy work, as well as an emotionally moving piece in which a hospital nurse on the night shift speaks in the voice of a young girl about her father’s alcoholism. Titled “Alcohol,” the PSA for the Bernardos’ child welfare charity shows how early life experiences leave a lasting impression into adulthood.
SIMPSON
Tabletop specialist Simpson shutters his Simpson Films with all its financial commitments honored. The shop, he said, enjoyed a successful run but he felt bogged down by having to run a company. Headquarters presents him with the opportunity to turn his undivided attention to directing.
Furthermore, Simpson related that he had been shooting so much via his company in New York that he didn’t have the time to pursue other markets. He reasoned that Headquarters, under the aegis of president Tom Mooney, is positioned to seek out work for him throughout the U.S. and internationally.
Conversely, Headquarters not only fills a tabletop niche on its roster, but also can avail itself, when necessary, of Simpson’s two stages in Long Island City, part of the 16,000 square foot facility that housed Simpson Films. Simpson has renamed the facility Eastlight Studios, offering the stages for rental to the community at large.
Simpson’s recent credits include Domino’s for J. Walter Thompson, New York, Applebees out of Foote, Cone & Belding, Chicago; International House of Pancakes for McCann-Erickson, Los Angeles, and Sony via Young & Rubicam, New York.