For Craig Gillespie, one of the perks of being a Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award nominee for best commercial director of the year is missing this time, on the occasion of his third career nomination.
“Normally it gives you the chance to meet other directors you don’t get to meet otherwise–guys I bid against,” he related, noting that in earlier years, he was able to get to know and chat with such helmers as Baker Smith of Santa Monica-based harvest films and Noam Murro of LosAngeles-headquartered Biscuit Filmworks.
However, this year Gillespie already knows three of the other four nominees quite well as they are with the same production company as he is–bicoastal/international MJZ. Those MJZ colleagues are directors Rocky Morton, Spike Jonze and Rupert Sanders. The remaining nominee is the aforementioned Murro.
Nonetheless, even in the absence of the chance to get acquainted with different directors in the commercials category, Gillespie is thrilled over again entering the select circle of spot award finalists. “Being nominated is a tremendous honor in and of itself,” he observed. “And there’s a camaraderie in the DGA show–being able to talk to other directors not only in your category but also in features and different disciplines. That’s a prime reason why this is my favorite awards show.”
Gillespie himself crossed over in 2005, wrapping his first feature, Mr. Woodcock, a comedy with a cast headed by Billy Bob Thornton and Susan Sarandon. He’s now once again back to helming commercials.
Gillespie’s previous two DGA nominations came for his spot work in ’01 and ’02. He is now a nominee for best commercial director of ’05 based on Ameriquest’s “Surprise Dinner” and “Mini-Mart” for DDB, Los Angeles, and Altoids’ “People of Pain” and “Fable of the Fruit Bat,” out of Leo Burnett USA, Chicago.
Gillespie said that he and MJZ president/co-founder David Zander selected these spots as DGA competition entries because they displayed range. “Ameriquest was just solid creative with an unexpected twist. They spots were dark comedy, which is taking a chance, particularly given that they debuted on the [’05] Super Bowl,” said Gillespie. By contrast, the Altoids fare, he said, represented a brand of odd reality-based, broad, over-the-top comedy.”
NOAM MURRO
The only non-MJZ nominee in this year’s field–and the only one to have actually ever won the DGA Award for commercials–is Murro. He won last year as the best director of ’04. This marks the fourth consecutive year that Murro has earned a DGA spot nomination.
“Being recognized by your peers is a phenomenal honor,” observed Murro. “And being nominated–even being nominated for the fourth time–is still humbling.”
Murro’s latest nomination came for Hummer H3’s “Monsters” from Modernista!, Boston, Nike’s “Run Barefoot” for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., and Orange’s “Black Out” for Mother, London.
The entries represent an artistic range, said Murro, citing the “emotional trajectory” of the Orange commercial, the “visual spectacle” of “Run Barefoot” and the humor, facilitated by visual effects, of “Monsters.”
“The common bond in the spots,” said Murro, “is that they all have a story.”
SPIKE JONZE
Jonze is a first-time DGA commercials nominee–but this is not his first DGA Award nomination. He was nominated for the DGA Award in feature films for Being John Malkovich in ’99.
For Jonze, the selection of commercials to submit to the DGA competition was a relatively easy proposition. The three spots he entered–adidas’ “Hello Tomorrow” for TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco, Miller Beer’s “Penguin” from Young & Rubicam, Chicago, and The Gap’s “Pardon Our Dust” out of Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami–were the only ones he did in ’05.
The appeal of each of the spots for Jonze was quite different. For “Pardon Our Dust,” the attraction was the clever concept and, he quipped, the chance to destroy a Gap store. For “Penguin” it was the offbeat humor presented in a mundane fashion, showing seasoned working actors–who happen to be animals, including a prickly penguin–discussing their audition experiences. And for “Hello Tomorrow,” part of the creative spark came from a couple pieces of children’s literature.
The two children’s books were Crockett Johnson’s “Harold and the Purple Crayon” and Maurice Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen.” In the latter, a kid falls out of bed, through the floor and into an adventure “in the night kitchen.” In “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” the title character walks around with a crayon, which he uses to create and alter his surroundings, from one environment to the next.
“These were two books I loved and to be able to use them as inspiration in the concept the agency came to me with was great and cool,” related Jonze.
Also “cool” for Jonze was seeing four MJZ directors earn nominations. “I’m as excited about that as I am about getting a nomination myself.”
ROCKY MORTON
Sharing in the excitement is Morton, who’s the “M” in MJZ. “I’m very proud of my company and the directors,” he said. “The reason it’s such a honor is that it’s a selection process driven by your peers. People who understand the challenges of being a director are judging the work.”
Like Gillespie, Morton has now been nominated three times. His previous nominations were for his spotwork in ’98 and ’99. Morton garnered his latest nomination on the strength of Bell South’s “Kung Fu Clowns” and “Dance Fight Plumbers” for WestWayne, Atlanta, Cheese Nips’ “Office” via J. Walter Thompson, New York, and a CSI promo spot, “Take Me Home” out of The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
Morton entered these particular commercials because they represented “a wide spectrum of comedy. He cited the broad humor of “Office,” the dark and twisted comedy of “Take Me Home” and the surreal, unexpected humor contained in the Bell South fare.
RUPERT SANDERS
Sanders was unavailable for comment at press time. He is a first-time DGA Award nominee. Sanders’ nomination came on the basis of two spots: adidas’ “Made To Perfection” for TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco, and Xbox’s “Joy” via McCann Erickson, San Francisco. The latter was produced by MJZ.
“Made To Perfection” was produced by the now defunct Omaha Pictures, which repped Sanders prior to his joining MJZ.
The DGA Awards are in their 58th year. The DGA opened the annual competition to commercial directors in ’80. This year’s DGA Award winners–spanning theatrical features, TV, documentaries and commercials–will be announced and honored during a gala ceremony in Los Angeles on Jan. 28.