Space Program, the Universal City-based shop headed by executive producer Bill Reilly, has added directors Frank Samuel and Michael Shapiro to its roster. Samuel comes over from Headquarters which closed earlier this year, while Shapiro was most recently with bicoastal Go Film.
Samuel is best known for his work in comedy, often facilitated by strong visual style. His Mars’ “Celebrations” spot for BBDO New York was a send-up of public television’s Antiques Roadshow, mimicking the series’ video look and its often quirky participants. Samuel’s humor is also evident in another BBDO commercial, M&M’s “Hotel,” which opens on a man in a hotel lobby. The person behind the check-in desk asks the customer if he would like “turndown service with a complimentary chocolate on his pillow.” We later see the man wide awake in bed with the M&M character Red lying on a neighboring pillow. Red asks if he could watch TV, to which the man curtly replies, “No.”
Among Samuel’s other credits are spots for such clients as Reebok, Fox Sports, the Oakland A’s, Molson and Kellogg’s. Prior to Headquarters, Samuel was with Santa Monica-based harvest. He got his start in the business working in the art department for famed Hollywood cult filmmaker Roger Corman. Samuel then moved on to serve as an art director on such features as The Mask starring Jim Carrey, and Steven Soderbergh’s The Underneath. Samuel transitioned into commercial directing in the mid-1990s, joining now defunct redBack films, and then Bedford Falls. He came aboard harvest in ’02 and shifted over to Headquarters two years later.
SHAPIRO Shapiro had been with Go since its inception. Earlier he had a three-year stay at Venice, Calif.-based Cucoloris and prior to that was with Tate & Partners (now Tate USA), Santa Monica.
He transitioned into spots at the Tate studio, after having directed regional and off-Broadway theatrical productions. Shapiro went on to helm commercials for assorted clients, including Nike, New Balance and Guess Jeans. These endeavors helped him earn the opportunity to work for producer Jerry Bruckheimer, directing episodes of such series as CSI and Soldier of Fortune, and an ABC telefilm, Max Q.
Shapiro’s current reel includes spots for Morgan Stanley and Speedo, as well as his dark comedy short Jihad, which has played the festival circuit, being screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and the HBO U.S. Comedy Fest.
Shapiro and Samuel come aboard a Space Program spot directorial roster that consists of noted feature cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Minority Report, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List) and the Weitz Bros. whose directorial and screenwriting credits include American Pie, About A Boy, In Good Company and the recently released American Dreamz.
