GoodOil Boy Makes Inroads Stateside
By Millie Takaki
Though his reputation Down Under is as a comedy director, Hamish Rothwell of GoodOil Films, Sydney–who last year secured stateside representation via TWC, Santa Monica–relates that “being funny is tricky. It’s one of the hardest buttons to push in advertising or for that matter other disciplines. I get the most excited about commercials that have an emotional content that lends itself to humor, so that comedy doesn’t have to be the overriding element. Even in an outright comedy spot, I’m looking for another way to connect to make the humor work.”
For Rothwell this approach most recently proved successful in “Rituals” for Nestle’s Drumsticks out of Publicis Mojo, Melbourne and Sydney. “I didn’t play up the humor but the human nature of the situation—the emotion of summer and being relaxed in a dream state,” says the director. “I think that helped to bring out the comedy more naturally.”
“Rituals” takes us through the poolside behavior and antics that are an indelible part of the summer season in Australia. So much so that seemingly everyone is performing them in synchronized fashion, ranging from snapping their towels and sitting down on them to dipping toes in the water, diving into the drink, guys checking out an attractive bikini-clad lass only to be slapped on the head by their wives for being a bit too interested, women adjusting their swimsuits to remedy any wedgies in the making and most importantly everyone enjoying a Drumstruck ice cream treat.
Rothwell found inspiration from several sources for “Rituals,” including the Mass Games in North Korea and the Busby Berkeley-directed and choreographed musicals of the 1930s, ’40s and early ’50s. The Berkeley song-and-dance extravaganzas feature what’s widely regarded as examples of classic cinema choreography with hundreds of performers hoofing in unison, at times forming larger than life design patterns.
On the former score, the Mass Games feature thousands of people performing tasks in sync. “There’s a great English documentary about girls rehearsing for these games and that had an influence on us,” says Rothwell. “But the Mass Games with so many people can play out as robotic and a bit alienating.
“Balancing that for me,” continues Rothwell, “is the feel of the Berkeley films with people of different body shapes, with a human element of each movement not being so precise, certainly not robotic. We needed that feel, that sense of humanity to make our commercial work so that people could relate to it and enjoy the humor. The visuals and the comedy cannot be at odds with one another–that’s why the humanity is so important.”
NASCAR
Rothwell also recently wrapped his first project under the TWC umbrella, actually a co-production with GoodOil: Oreo’s “Yum” for DraftFCB, New York. In this spot, three guys are glued to their TV set watching a NASCAR race–each holding an Oreo cookie. As they go for the creme filling, each lets out a “Yum” with each lick. The rapid succession of “Yums” sounds like the humming of a racecar automobile making its way around the track. One guy, though, drops his cookie momentarily and lets out a crashing sound akin to that of a car accident. But without skipping a beat, the boys rev up their “engine” tongues again and are back “yumming” at a high rate of speed.
A parting slogan touts Oreo Double Stuf as “the official cookie of NASCAR.”
Again for Rothwell there was an emotional connection to tap into for “Yum.” “NASCAR brings out the kid in guys–the chance to be silly,” observes Rothwell. “Watching guys being silly and spontaneous is at the heart of the piece.”
The commercial marks a return engagement with Oreo for Rothwell who earlier directed “Cop Race” for the client, produced at that time by GoodOil for FCB.
“There’s some great comedy storytelling work coming out of the U.S. and I’d like to get the chance to tap into more of it,” notes Rothwell, adding that he joined TWC because it’s a smaller shop where he won’t get lost in the roster shuffle. “The company and [executive producer] Mark Thomas understand my filmmaking and are committed to help build me with the proper work in the American market.”
Rothwell’s comedy prowess exhibited overseas should translate well stateside. Those spots include Ski Yogurt’s “Park” and “High School” via Leo Burnett, Sydney, which garnered a pair of Silver Lions at Cannes, some risque Fox Sports Channel promos for Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney, and a Nike commercial linked to the World Cup for Publicis Mojo, Melbourne.
In the latter, a man mercilessly heckles the Australian soccer team which is practicing on a stadium field. A player retaliates by kicking a long ball which with target precision knocks the derisive fan out of the stands.
And in the alluded to Fox spot “Massage,” a guy begs his attractive female masseuse for what we first assume is a sexual favor. She finally relents and turns the nearby TV set on to the soccer match airing on the Fox Sports Channel.
Thespian
Rothwell started out as an actor in New Zealand. He aspired to get into filmmaking and moved to the U.K. to study at the London International Film School. He made a foray into directing there but reasoned that his chances to initially secure work were back in New Zealand, where he joined production house Flying Fish. That strategy proved fruitful as he landed a noted G Shock watches campaign, among other projects. He also scored with his feature filmmaking debut, Stickmen, which won best direction honors at the ’00 New Zealand Film Festival.
The director then relocated to Australia, joining GoodOil in ’03. He also maintains representation in the U.K. via Mustard Films, and in Germany through Markenfilm. In the German market, Rothwell has diversified into storytelling car ads with Mercedes-Benz’s “Animal Crossing” for Springer & Jacoby, Hamburg, and Volkswagen’s “Snow” out of DDB Berlin.
Review: Writer-Director Andrea Arnold’s “Bird”
"Is it too real for ya?" blares in the background of Andrea Arnold's latest film, "Bird," a 12-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) rides with her shirtless, tattoo-covered dad, Bug (Barry Keoghan), on his electric scooter past scenes of poverty in working-class Kent.
The song's question — courtesy of the Irish post-punk band Fontains D.C. — is an acute one for "Bird." Arnold's films ( "American Honey," "Fish Tank") are rigorous in their gritty naturalism. Her fiction films — this is her first in eight years — tend toward bleak, hand-held verité in rough-and-tumble real-world locations. Her last film, "Cow," documented a mother cow separated from her calf on a dairy farm.
Arnold specializes in capturing souls, human and otherwise, in soulless environments. A dream of something more is tantalizing just out of reach. In "American Honey," peace comes to Star (Sasha Lane) only when she submerges underwater.
In "Bird," though, this sense of otherworldly possibility is made flesh, or at least feathery. After a confusing night, Bailey awakens in a field where she encounters a strange figure in a skirt ( Franz Rogowski ) who arrives, like Mary Poppins, with a gust a wind. His name, he says, is Bird. He has a soft sweetness that doesn't otherwise exist in Bailey's hardscrabble and chaotic life.
She's skeptical of him at first, but he keeps lurking about, hovering gull-like on rooftops. He cranes his neck now and again like he's watching out for Bailey. And he does watch out for her, helping Bailey through a hard coming of age: the abusive boyfriend (James Nelson-Joyce) of her mother (Jasmine Jobson); her half brother (Jason Buda) slipping into vigilante violence; her father marrying a new girlfriend.
The introduction of surrealism has... Read More