On May 28 at the DGA Theater in New York, SHOOT will debut its sixth annual New Directors Showcase reel, which will become available on May 29 at www.shootonline.com/go/newdirectorswebreel. The reel reflects the work and inventive talent of 30 helmers–23 individual directors, a three-person team and six directorial duos.
Helping to fashion the 2008 New Directors Showcase lineup were entries from SHOOT’s 2008 New Directors Search, choice work from SHOOT’s ongoing “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery and feedback from advertising agency creatives and producers.
Here’s a look at this year’s field of talent…
Baby
Rebolucion, Buenos Aires
Huggies’ “Uterus”
Ogilvy & Mather,
Buenos Aires
How did you get into directing?
We are a duo, two people who really want to do great things and have a good time along the way.
Cecilia Alvarez has always been committed to a career in film. She has worked alongside well known directors.
Pablo Bordenabe worked as a production designer and illustrator before turning to directing commercials.
In October ’06, we decided to concentrate on commercials.
What is your most recent spot project?It was for Ariel titled “Runway.”. A very creative spot, stylish and funny to shoot.
What is the best part about being a director?
Together, we create a fascinating mix of fantasy and reality.
Our goal is to work on aesthetically interesting projects while growing and living life to the fullest.
Keith Bearden
Mr. Hyde, Paris (U.S. affiliation: Good Films, New York)
Brandt Washing Machines’ “Apartment Sharing”
DDB Paris
How did you get into directing?I made a short film, The Raftman’s Razor, with a small bunch of friends and non-actors that bizarrely became a hit around the world and wound up in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection. Someone asked me to make a commercial, to which I replied, “Why not?” Avoiding a day job has always been an important life goal.
What is your most recent spot project?I did a commercial called “Tongue” for Doritos in the U.K. in March. Great creatives, who had a few script guidelines but let me add a lot of little story and character details. And yes, that actor is really spitting a mechanical tongue into a glass of water five feet away. We got it on the first take. CGI is for sissies.
What is the best part about being a director?Making films is like having kids–little semi-replicas of yourself out there in the world, that are hopefully smart, artistic, good-hearted, lovable, or at least entertaining. And without all the pooping, crying and years of constant attention.
Christian Bevilacqua
Therapy Films, London
McCain’s “Rustics”
Beattie McGuinness Bungay, London
How did you get into directing?
I have always made little collage-like videos and animations, this accumulated into a bit of a showreel after a graphic design course in university. I came to London when it was sweltering in a lava like summer. Somehow whilst staggering around in a haze of smog and feeling dehydrated, I ended up getting represented as a music vid director. Chance had a part in that but I guess my collection of bits ‘n bobs on the reel helped. Few years later the music videos led into commercials which are great fun to work on and I’ve won some awards too. which is nice.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?I don’t know if am allowed to speak about this as its not on TV yet, but it was a 15 second spot for MasterCard. Am also working on a very short short film, but this is also mucho top secret.
What is the best part about being a director?Trying to make your next piece of work better than the strongest one and succeeding.
Brian BillowHungry Man, bicoastal/international
Wrigley’s “Big Red Montoya”
DDB Chicago
How did you get into directing?I studied graphic design for years and was always mesmerized by title sequences and frame composition in films. I remember hearing that one of my design heroes, Saul Bass, designed the titles for and the shots in the famous shower sequence for Hitchcock’s Psycho. That’s when it was first clear to me that great graphic design encompassed much more than the printed page. Soon after I got a job at an advertising agency and through commercial production I realized what fun it was working with actors and moving images.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
My latest directing project is a short film for Nokia shot entirely with cell phone cameras. It’s a sad story about a middle-aged lonely man surrounded by eclectic hipsters who pay him no mind. We hear his thoughts as he drones through this lonely existence. Sounds hilarious right?
What is the best part about being a director?I love all aspects of directing but my favorite by far is the casting process. Finding people who do not come off as actors always improves the script. Finding the ones who just get it and are unexpected or memorable in some intangible way makes all the work worth it.
Bitstate (Pete Circuitt, Bill Sneed)The Ebeling Group, New York
Havaianas’ “Bus Stop”
BBDO New York
How did you get into directing?(Responses are from Pete Circuitt)
I went to the Stuttgart Trick Film Festival in ’96 during a really dirty and impoverished first trip to Europe with my good bud Dan Crooks. He had a film playing there and it did really well. During the directors Q&A, I heard Barry Purves grumbling that 30 frames per second was not enough. He wanted the whole world to standardize to 60 fps to really animate properly. Imagine wanting to do twice the work per second! Stopframe too. That’s when I decided to get into directing I reckon.
What is your most recent spot project?A spot for Knorr.
What is the best part about being a director?I’m pretty hands on during all stages of a project. I like figuring out approaches to scripts and the quick design rush you get when you turn over something quickly. Being a director means you guide that rush, from the beginning, into what that script was always meant to be.
Tony BriggsDab Hand Media, London
Thecreamery.co.uk’s Creative Dictator (short film)
How did you get into directing?I worked as a stills photographer for many years and while shooting on tour with Oasis and Ocean Colour Scene, I was asked to direct the “Hundred Mile High City” promo for OCS and went on to direct their following five projects. Then I forgot all about it until I was approached by Dominic Delaney. He had recently left his post as managing director of @radical.media, London, and was setting up his new venture–Dab Hand. He was keen for me to be part of the set up with a view to moving me in to the commercials arena. I went for it……
What is your most recent spot project?Aside from my incredibly funny viral for Cream, I’ve just completed “Chicken Birth,” an ad for Pollens Organic Mayonnaise through Ogilvy, London.
What is the best part about being a director?Directing. Stills photography is a pain in the arse.
Luis Carone
02 Filmes, Sao Paulo, Brazil (U.S. affiliation, Backyard, Venice, Calif.)
AMC Car Insurance’s “Remote Control”
DM9 DDB, Sao Paulo
How did you get into directing?
I started working with 3D and postproduction doing commercials. After five years of work I was engaged in a big job that took me three months in part of a post process that made me really tired of staying just behind the machines. I did a video clip, very rough, for a band of friends of mine. Other bands were then interested in me. When I realized, a year had gone by which I spent just directing music videos. Other bigger bands got interested in my work, like Sepultura, and I ended up winning several awards in the Brazilian VMA. It was when several other invitations to direct commercials popped up. I joined Fernando Meirelles’ production company, 02 Filmes, for commercials.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
The last film I directed was for Claro, Fnazca-Saatchi & Saatchi. The film is based on a very simple concept, actually. You can listen to music from your cell phone wherever you are, traveling or jogging. From this idea we scouted interesting places and moments. We ended up shooting in three different Brazilian states, trying to create a puzzle of interesting people and places.
What is the best part about being a director?
Besides being able to show the world as I see it, I find it incredible to have the chance to enter different realms. Even if it is a day-to-day moment, take people from their home and throw them in different places, the way I want, is always fascinating.
Eran Creevy
Sleeper Films, Santa Monica
Nike Plus’ “I Am Not A Runner”
Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam
How did you get into directing?I started watching every video that ever came into my dad’s video shop!! Then I finished college as a postproduction runner in Soho, running tapes around, and then managed to get a job working as a set PA on Layer Cake directed by Matthew Vaughn and started to get more work as an AD. I then was blocking assistant on a Woody Allen movie which was great. I then shot my first music video for a friend who was a rapper, and then convinced Ashley Walters to let me direct his first music video off his new album when I was third assistant on a movie he was on… and have tried to make better work on every job since.
What is your most recent spot project?
It’s a promo for Sonny J Handsfree. It’s Tarantino meets Thriller in a trailer park. It was an amazing shoot. I wanted to create a different world in the video, something that isn’t really happening in video anymore….it was amazing when I was just standing in this world that I’d created….. the production design, styling and choreography team were just fantastic.
What is the best part about being a director?
Coming up with mad ideas about the running man being invented in a Welsh working mans’ club, and then actually getting a load of people together and making it come true!
Rob Devor
Nonfiction Unlimited, bicoastal
Coleman’s “Clams” (spec spot)
How did you get into directing?
I used to go to an avant-garde film night on Mondays in L.A. and I saw some incredible work by Michael Guccioni. I’d sit there in this dingy little space on a metal chair, jaw dropped, and watch his impossibly cinematic clash of sight and sound. One film starred his father, who was dying from MS. He turned him into this quixotic figure of electric light and paralyzing industrial sound. Presumptuously, I asked him if we might collaborate on something. He said, “Sure, if you can raise the money.”
What is your most recent project?A spot campaign for Bonefish Grill out of Cliff Freeman. We went to the major oceans of the world to explore the coastal cultures that were supplying them with their fish. We shot in Iceland, Grenada Argentina and Malta. It was a documentary-style shoot capturing lush visuals and real people and felt like ecstatic freedom.
What’s best about directing?You are connected to both the sky and the ground. You engage with many voices in your head, make deep connections faster than the ordinary person, can show the world something it typically misses and harness the social and the supernatural. You can make a statement without saying one word.
The Docter Twins (Matt & Jason)DUCK Studios, Los Angeles
Wienerschnitzel’s “Gotcha”
DGWB Advertising, Santa Ana, Calif.
How did you get into directing?Matt: We like to think directing got into us.
Jason: It was a late night. There was a Ouija board…
What is your most recent spot project?
Kellogg’s Gripz for Leo Burnett, Chicago. The team from Burnett was fantastic. Per Jacobson, Nik Traxler, Dave Derrick, and Stephanie Simpson enthusiastically embraced our vision. The spot features two kids, a bird, a plane, and a seven-foot-tall basketball player…could you really ask for more?
What is the best part about being a director?
Collaboration.
Ryan Ebner
H.S.I. Productions, bicoastal/international
“MaternaCord”
Mother, New York
How did you get into directing?I got into directing by being on the agency side for 13 years. I was a creative/partner at Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners for most of my career. Then went freelance and ended up shooting some test spots for a project at Y&R Chicago. The client loved the spots and hired me to do five more shoots.
What’s your most recent spot project?I just finished a great project for Mother/NY. They came up with an awesome idea to advertise Star Wars on Spike TV. It was a great shoot. We had a very tight budget, so I actually ended up sharing a room with one of the creatives, who is a buddy. It was very collaborative, refreshing and funny.
What is the best part about being a director?You get to make stuff. As a creative in an ad agency, you spend all your time thinking up stuff to make and trying to sell it. But you rarely make it. As a director, all you do is make what’s already been approved and sold through.
Harold Einstein
Station, bicoastal/international
Avis’ “Accents”
McCann Erickson, New York
How did you get into directing?
I started out as a writer in advertising and was very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to write award-winning advertising for FedEx, Apple, Little Caesars Pizza, Guinness, Red Stripe, HP, Doritos, The Wall Street Journal, Prodigy, L.A. Cellular and Sprint.
Directing seemed like the natural next step.
What is your most recent spot project?I just finished shooting a Crest campaign for Saatchi, N.Y.
What is the best part about being a director?Some people enter into directing with a love for the camera. For me, it’s the actors.
Gentlemen (Brett Snider, Billy Federighi)Uber Content, Hollywood
How did you get into directing?We met at film school. Six months after graduation I started my career off responsibly, getting a job as an office PA at a production company, while Brett worked the counter at Kinko’s. Frustrated, I called Brett and said, “This director can’t even work his cell phone–we should be commercial directors.” Brett agreed and the two of us formed an unholy alliance. We entered and won contests for both Converse and Doritos. Leo Burnett took a liking to us and were awesome enough to give us our first chance. We took the opportunity and ran with it and here we are today.
What is your most recent spot project?We just finished multimedia campaigns for both Hormel and Kellogg’s. They should be hitting TV and the web soon. The Corn Pops spots will be linked to a huge choose-your-own-adventure game online that will encompass all of the work we’ve done with Kellogg’s so far. Should be really fun and weird. Currently we are preparing both physically and mentally for Armageddon. We’ll need sharp minds and shredded abs when the aliens arrive.
What is the best part about being a director?Getting paid to do what we enjoy.
Philippe Grammaticopoulos
Mr. Hyde, Paris & London. (U.S. affiliation, Mr. Hyde @ Curious, New York)
Amnesty International’s “Signatures”
TBWA, Paris
How did you get into directing?
I started out as an illustrator and have published several illustrations and comic books with some independent book houses. Directing is a good way to give life to my characters, and my films are animated transpositions of the characters I draw.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
Amnesty International is the only commercial I have directed. I started directing with two short feature films. I am working on my third feature film, called Les Ventres (Stomachs), and I shall finish by this summer. The general theme of it is the Genetically Modified Organism and the drift of food processing.
What is the best part about being a director?
Directing is a great exercise for me. It gives me the opportunity to develop my universe and give life to my characters.
Sam HolstThe Sweet Shop, Auckland, N.Z.
Seek.com.au’s “Slacker” (spec spot)
How did you get into directing?
At school when me and my mates were about 13 or 14. We’d make short films of the books we were studying, rather than writing essays all the time. Teachers were cool with it, so we made things like 10-minute versions of Coppola’s The Outsiders. Fun for us to make and watch but filmmaking-wise, real train wrecks. Think little Aussie kids with bad American accents and greasy hair. Anyway after finishing school I saw an ad for a film school and applied. Got in, made a few shorts and things have developed since.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?A spot for a snack food company which I’m in post on at the moment. I have a few personal film projects in development which I’ve been putting a lot of energy into as well.
What is the best part about being a director?Bringing stories or ideas to life on screen and working with really talented people to make it happen. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.
David Katzenberg
Prettybird, Santa Monica
The Tale of RJ (short film)
How did you get into directing?I began producing reality television for Mark Burnett and slowly came to the realization that producing reality is similar to directing fiction. The emphasis was on storytelling. I was given an opportunity to produce and direct online content for CBS, and that kind of paved the way. I knew I needed something that was completely my own, and that led to The Tale of RJ.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
RJ is actually the most recent project. Before that I worked on Clark and Michael and How to Survive a Horror Movie for CBS Digital Media. I’m currently busy developing and bidding on several spots to shoot in the near future.
What is the best part about being a director?
The best part of being a director is seeing a script come to life. After the endless hours of planning and hard work, nothing’s more satisfying than watching something you’ve thought about for so long play out in front of your eyes.
Rich Lee
DNA, Hollywood
Eni’s “The City”
TBWA, Milan
How did you get into directing?
Directing has been something of a natural progression for me. I started my professional career very young. At 16 I was in N.Y. sculpting and fabricating sets and props for Broadway shows, theme parks and trade shows. A few years later I found myself in L.A. creating 3D animated pre-visualizations for feature films and commercials. Inspired by the directors I worked with, I started experimenting with photography and short films. While working on the film Constantine, director Francis Lawrence guided me to his production company DNA, and soon thereafter I was directing music videos and commercials.
What is your most recent spot project?
We are wrapping up post on a Sony Ericsson spot.
What is the best part about being a director?
The whole process is interesting; from being in a small room jotting down ideas, to suddenly being on set with a bustling crew, to a dark editing room watching people as they watch the final product for the first time. The energy and collaboration of it all are thrilling.
Tony McNeal
Hydraulx Filmz, Santa Monica
Levi’s “Emergency Worthy” (spec spot)
How did you get into directing?
After graduating from Emerson College’s film program, I moved to Berlin where I worked as a graphic designer. After these formative years in Europe, I moved to Michigan and got my start in the industry as an assistant editor at Griot Editorial. During my stint there, I won an honorable mention for “Best Film Trailer by a Junior Editor” for the feature film Chicago. During this period, I gained a true appreciation for commercials when I saw Paul Hunter’s Nike “Freestyle.” However, it was the Ivan Zacharias-directed “Stealing the Stolen” for Levi’s that really inspired me to direct.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
Currently, we’re in preproduction for a short film I’m directing entitled Born That Way. It’s a shoot-’em-up piece on the Steve McQueen vibe about a modern day Robin Hood and his daughter. Expectations are high and it’s filled with challenges. Needless to say, I’m excited about the opportunities. Hydraulx Filmz rocks! Everything will be entirely produced in-house at Hydraulx Filmz. The only boundary is imagination– if that’s a boundary at all.
What is the best part about being a director?
Crafting a story in moving images and a multitude of art forms–drama, music, storytelling, and cinematography–in one moving and inspirational package. To me, directing is like conducting a symphony that touches all the senses.
Mattias MonteroSocial Club, Stockholm
ATG’s “Statues”
Akestam Holst, Stockholm
How did you get into directing?It felt like a natural development for me personally. I started working in this business as a PA on shoots when I was very young and that got me introduced to the DP-side of film-making. I soon realized that I had a great interest in moving pictures and also that I had a talent and understanding for how to best compose them to get a satisfying result. As a DP you–re an artist and you absolutely need to have an energy within you to explore and challenge both yourself and the director…I have this extremely driving force to challenge myself and to throw myself into unexplored territories which has slowly grown my urge to start to direct.
What is your most recent spot project?It’s a Volvo spot that I did together with Forsman & Bodenfors in Sweden. It’s for the model C-30, an eco-car that you’re able to choose in a pattern of your own liking, Striped, checked, with dots..you name it.
What is the best part about being a director?
That’s a tricky question. What is the best part of being a human being? There are so many layers so it’s so hard to find something absolute concrete.
The thing is that when a person says ‘He’s a director,’ the word is often translated as a single person but to me a director is like a conductor. A conductor is nothing without an orchestra and it’s the same for a director. You can’t direct without having your “orchestra” with you. I just love the dynamic and the beauty of a group of people that together create something. That gives you an adrenaline kick out of this world!
Lanre OlabisiYahoo! Personal’s “A Better Way” (spec spot)
How did you get into directing?
I took an excellent screenwriting class in college which sparked a greater interest in filmmaking as a whole. That is when I first started to feel the itch. I made my first short–which wasn’t that good–and 15 years later I still find that the itch is there even stronger than ever.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
My narrative feature, August the First, just had its limited theatrical release. Before that, it had screened at 25 film festivals including the South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) and The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. August the First earned an IFP Gotham Award nomination, as well as prizes at six international film festivals including top prizes at The Milwaukee International Film Festival and The San Francisco Black Film Festival.
What is the best part about being a director?
I love it when something that starts off as a mere fantasy in my head becomes a reality. For me, that is the most fulfilling part of directing.
Adria Petty
harvest, Santa Monica
Target’s “Portal”
Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
How did you get into directing?
I was always a really visual person. I had a very art directed bedroom and wardrobe as a kid and an even more extensive fantasy life. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley near an art house movie theater and by default got full on classic cinema immersion. I think my dad knew I was a director way before I did and he just kept giving me cameras here and there, which at the time was a little confusing. It happened very naturally though, like picking up a guitar and just playing something. I can’t imagine what else I would do.
What is your most recent spot project?
My last commercial project was for Clorox 2 color bleach. It was a collaboration with the agency DDB based on the idea that “a child’s world is full of color”. It evolved from an open brief and was tailored to the agency’s brand concerns. It takes place inside a child’s imagination world and since it was shot in Mexico City, it has a great magical realism flavor to it. I am really proud of it.
What is the best part about being a director?
Being an anthropologist. Meeting people. Making impossible things happen. Collaborating with other people as good or better than you at their jobs. It is heaven.
Benita Raphan
Great Genius And Profound Stupidity (documentary for Sundance Channel)
How did you get into directing?My background was originally as an art director in fashion advertising and design. While on the agency side, I worked and lived in London, Paris and New York City. With a strong design background meshed with the digital age, I chose to make a foray into moving images. I won the Young Guns Award at the Art Directors’ Club for a short film that I made in Paris–and I was very encouraged. Most recently I have worked as a producer and director, creating original content episodes for broadcast.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
I have just wrapped Great Genius and Profound Stupidity, a 30-minute episode, for The Sundance Channel. This experimental doc. is part of an series that I have developed about “where new ideas originate.” This film premiered at The Tribeca Film Festival in May. On June 24, the series will be screened at the AIGA (American Association of Graphic Artists) here in NYC (www.aigany.org).
What is the best part about being a director?
The best part of being a director is the opportunity for collaboration. Directing is a wonderful way to invite a group of very talented and interesting people to come together and produce their best work while enjoying themselves immensely in the process.
Guillermo Rocamora
Big Mama Productions, New York
Uruguay Lottery’s “Gordo de Fin de Ano”
Publicis Impetu, Montevideo
How did you get into directing?
I worked several years as a first AD in commercials and features. This is how I learned how to direct and I came to understand that directing is the most interesting part of the film business. I always felt that I’ve had stories to tell ever since I was a child. And I’ve found in the commercials and in my short films the perfect way to do it. I feel so comfortable directing.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
My most recent commercial was a campaign for Quaker Oats, which included Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia. My most recent project is my short film Buen Viaje (Good Trip) which was an official selection for Cannes Festival 2008.
What is the best part about being a director?The possibility to work with a great team because shooting is a team sport, so you need to have a great one to get things done. If you have a great team, you will have the best film. Also I really enjoy thinking how to best tell the story.
Rozan & Schmeltz (Jeremie Rozan, Martial Schmeltz)
Partizan, bicoastal/international
Diesel’s “Space Dinner”
Surface To Air, Paris
How did you get into directing?
At first, a long lasting love for films mixed with the decision to make one, someday. Now it is impossible to do anything else.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
Spots: Louis Vuitton / Marc Jacobs “Emprise Watches”
Louis Vuitton / Pharrell Williams “Blason”
Music Videos: Sepultura/Cavalera Conspiracy “Sanctuary”
Black Kids “Hurricane Jane”
What is the best part about being a director?Working together as cousins, the amazement of creating our ideas, the feeling too of an endless learning process and the hope of seducing young actresses.
Keith Schofield
CaviarLA
Jennie-O’s “Wrestling”
BBDO Minneapolis
How did you get into directing?
I began doing spec music videos after college. Eventually I was able to land a $2,000 music video, and the budgets went up after that. Then they went down. Then up again. Before I could land a $30K music video, I got signed by Caviar to do commercials and was able to book my first spot with only a wacky music video reel. I was past the hurdle of being a music video guy. Though oddly enough, after two years of doing commercials, my music video career has gained traction and I’ve been working with some of my favorite artists.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
I’m currently shooting a few Belgacom spots in Brussels for VVL BBDO. They’re about the various human relationships the Internet creates.
Before this, I shot a video for Fatboy Slim. It’s a new project of his featuring David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal. Naturally, the video features a dozen naked ladies.
And before that, I shot a commercial for the Georgia Lottery. It involved putting a piggy bank in a microwave, which explodes into dollars.
What is the best part about being a director?Being creative. Not exactly the most original answer, but commercials have been a million times more creative than I ever imagined. I actually enjoy the boundaries and constants of commercials; I find it easier to focus on ideas. With music videos, sometimes it’s more daunting to have no limitations.
Sumo Science (Ed Patterson and Will Studd)Aardman Animations, Bristol, U.K.
Stereo vs. Vacuum (pilot episode for mobile phone series)
How did you get into directing?
We met at university and began working together early on. We set out to create something different using a fresh mix of styles with elements of stop-motion and 2D animation.
We were both lucky enough to find jobs at Aardman, working in different roles but still very much striving towards the goal of directing together.
Our chance came in 2007 when we developed the stop-frame animation series Stuff vs. Stuff commissioned by Aardman and Player X. Following its warm reception, we went on to form a directing duo under the name Sumo Science.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
Our latest spot was for the cereal Weetos in the U.K. It was our first chance to prove we could make a 30-second commercial using live-action and stop-frame animation. It was a challenging experience and one we have learnt a great deal from doing. It’s certainly given us a drive to make more and to get better and better. We are still pinching ourselves every time we see it on the TV. It’s a proud moment.
What is the best part about being a director?
Ed: As a kid I would lie on the floor with toys all around me and direct little films in my head. I still get the same buzz–
Will: You see it in your head, then you make it, then you get to see it for real. It’s about as rewarding as it gets!
Syndrome (James Larese, Micah Hancock, Mars Sandoval)Robot Films, Los Angeles
Estelle’s (featuring Kanye West) “American Boy” (music video)
How did you get into directing?
The three of us started out as an L.A.-based art collective under the name Syndrome. We were doing gallery shows around L.A. showcasing experimental work, and always had a strong respect and passion for directing. After a chance meeting with Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas, he gave us the opportunity to direct a video for the Peas. That video opened doors to other amazing experiences and opportunities that helped us pursue our goal of directing, and we ultimately signed with director Chris Robinson’s company Robot Films.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?As well as having directed videos for artists such as Estelle featuring Kanye West, we recently did a spot for Círoc Vodka with Diddy, and we did the post for Chris Robinson’s Boost Mobile “Anthem 2.0” commercial. We are currently working on our next body of experimental work, which will be exhibited at our solo show in L.A. at Crewest Gallery opening Sept. 6. The show is entitled “I Learned It From Watching You.”
What is the best part about being a director?When we were starting out, we could really only take our concepts so far based on what the three of us could physically execute. With the collaboration and support of amazing crews, we can now bring concepts to fruition that were once only sketches on napkins.
Guido VerweyenBig Fish Films, Dallas
Joe Public’s “Serenade” (spec spot)
How did you get into directing?I started out as a DP, shooting mostly docs. After one of my documentaries was Oscar nominated in 2001, I began focusing on storytelling. Directing docs led to directing reality shows like America’s Next Top Model, Bachelor and NBC’s Starting Over (which earned me an Emmy in 2005). Now, it seems that commercials are becoming more real and less stylized, and there seems to be a need for directors, like me, to implement a non-fiction approach, combining great visuals with strong storytelling and memorable performances.
What is your most recent spot project?
I just directed a series of spots for AIG, KFC and Clorox, with a reality spin, and also directed promos and intros for Miss USA in Vegas.
What is the best part about being a director?As a director/DP, I really enjoy the collaborative process from start to finish, where every detail counts. Being able to work with the most qualified people to create work that both entertains and captivates.
Clay WeinerBiscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles
Bud Light’s “Dude”
DDB Chicago
How did you get into directing?I got fed up not directing. In a sense I feel like I have been directing for years, but doing it in the dark alleys of my psyche and forgetting to run the camera. I got an early start in my career writing comedy with some of the best people in the business, Smigel, Carrell, Carvey and throughout that always got opportunities to direct work in one way or another. From the stage work of comedy sketches on Conan O’Brien, to animated series I made later for MTV, to films I’ve made for YouTube, and the private films I’m shot in the boudoir with my girlfriend. I love stories and having to wait to tell them, or being told I couldn’t tell them, that’s what ultimately compelled me to say fuck it and start telling them myself.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
I’ve shot campaigns for Snickers, Sega, Comcast, Time Warner, MTV, Bud Light, The Emmys, HBO Comedy, etc. Next up, I’m shooting a TV pilot for F/X, a show I wrote and created called Lake Hartwell. It’s a relationship comedy set in the South about lake culture down there–bass fisherman, canned beer, Christianity.
What is the best part about being a director?There is no best part. There are best parts. I love being able to work both my eye and my heart, directing is like a Stairmaster for the senses. The ability to shape and control the tone. For me, tone is everything, finding that sophistication between the writing, the performance and the cinematic world you’re creating. Also, the headphones, it’s like getting to wear two pillows on your ears all day.
David Weinstock
Waif & Stray, New York
Toyota’s “Icy Drive”
The Ballpark, Santa Monica
How did you get into directing?I have been a graphic designer and art director for years. So, I’d worked in advertising and production, and directing just felt like a natural next step for me. Plus, I’d been experimenting with video, stills, and graphics for a long time –and taking film classes. Then, two years ago I was accepted into a directing collective called Group101Spots, which really gave me the push I needed to put my reel together in a cohesive way. A year later, I was signed.
What is your most recent spot project?
If you haven’t done a recent commercial, what is your most recent project?
The last spot I shot was for a home entertainment product from Sony. Currently, I’m co-directing a documentary for PowerHouse Books and the New York Photo Festival. With it, I’ve had a chance to interview some of the most cutting-edge photographers and curators out there today, and really get inside their heads. It’s been incredibly inspiring. I’m also finishing a short branded content piece about a pro skateboarder on a quest for never-skated terrain.
What is the best part about being a director?
I like everything about directing, the entire process. It’s visual storytelling, brand messaging, and filmmaking, mixed with organic happenstance. From getting a script, then building a treatment that brings it to life and finally the craft of making it happen…I couldn’t think of a better way to work.
Effective May 29, The 2008 New Directors Showcase Reel will be available to view at www.shootonline.com/go/newdirectorswebreel
