NEW YORK -- (SPW) --

Paul Goldman is an award-winning, internationally recognized TV commercial director. He’s also founder and president of Kansas Clean Distilled Whiskey. 

So, he didn't have to even pick up a phone to find the writer and director for his whiskey brand’s first TV commercial.

“I know the brand. I have the advertising background. And our investors would have been a little troubled if I had charged a creative fee, company mark-up and director’s day rate. I gave myself a very good deal,” Goldman said.

Loud music brings the story's unlikely trio of characters together in an artist’s apartment, where they discover they can convey their preference for Kansas Whiskey through dance. 

“To be honest, the idea for the story was born of necessity," Goldman said. "I didn’t want to spend our company resources on the additional crew and post-production of recording dialogue. I wrote to the budget, knowing I would use subtitles to support the dialogue of these incredible actors, amazing choreography and a killer track.”

Wearing a stack of hats — director, client, production company and agency — bought a suite of challenges. “It wasn’t as easy as one might think," Goldman recalled.

“When you have no one to answer to, you’re never sure who’s in charge," he said. "As the client, do I show the product earlier in the story? Is the cut too indulgent and director-y? Equally, there is the pressure of not having any excuses. It had to be terrific, for myself and for the brand.

"It really wasn’t until I saw the first rough-cut that I knew we had something that both client and director were equally pleased with," Goldman said. 

The only conflict remaining: "Director Me is desperate to enter the film into the shows, while Client Me knows we probably can deploy those entrance fees more productively.”

“Kansas Dance” will break June 1 in regional television markets and digitally on social channels.

About THE DIRECTORS NETWORK (TDN)
Since 1985, The Directors Network has taken the ‘road less traveled,’ hand-curating and representing freelance directors to the advertising community. TDN is a talent agency which represents its exclusive roster of directors and DPs to ad agencies and clients either directly for in-house projects or through production companies. 

We take pride in our ability to empower our roster members with tools, resources, relationships and opportunities that enable them to build their careers. The secret of our success is a combination of dedication to service, of perseverance to ensure the right talent fit for each project, of determination to make the hiring process simple, fair and transparent, and our sincere passion for building long-term relationships.

To learn more about Paul Goldman or The Directors Network, visit thedirectorsnetwork.com.