Two for the road--from Mother to Mekanism
By Christine Champagne
Dave Clark and Rory Hanrahan–the two men who make up the directing duo Dave & Rory that recently signed with bicoastal Mekanism–don’t necessarily have the same sense of humor. “Dave accuses me of being overly European,” said Dublin native Hanrahan with a laugh, “and I accuse him of being overly American.”
Clark grew up in Columbia, Missouri, by the way.
The duo first began meshing their respective senses of humor when they were paired as a creative team at Mother, New York, and it was there that the guys found opportunities to direct together.
Their first stab at directing came in 2005 when they worked on the TBS Department of Humor Analysis campaign, which won a Gold Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival and One Show Gold and Silver. The premise of the wonderfully silly campaign is that TBS has a staff devoted to “the comprehensive study of humor and humorousness,” and the website that serves as the campaign’s main hub features several viral videos narrated by John Cleese. Clark and Hanrahan fashioned these videos out of original footage and stock footage.
One of them centers on funny animals and posits that while humans have long found monkeys funny, the part of our brains that finds them funny is shrinking, therefore squirrels and other woodland creatures are rising in prominence when it comes to being funny, although they may very well be overtaken by puffins. That said, skeptics argue that puffins are not funny because they don’t have arms but rather wings, which are not funny but tasty.
While the virals weren’t in the initial brief, Clark and Hanrahan just went ahead and made one, then showed it to TBS. The client loved it and asked them to make more.
“We’re opportunistic,” Hanrahan affirmed. “Every time we get a new project, we’re looking for different ways to up it. What can we give the client to surprise them?”
Another example of their opportunism: Back when they were at Mother, the agency was shooting a 16-page magazine insert for a “Take care of your mouth. It can be brilliant”-themed Rembrandt campaign, and one of the scenarios had two models kissing. Clark and Hanrahan took the models aside and filmed them kissing, then turned the footage into two commercials, including one titled “Kiss” that ran during the primetime Emmy Awards broadcast last year and caused quite a stir. The spot was also posted on YouTube, where it garnered more than a million views.
Mother was supportive of their love of directing, but Clark and Hanrahan eventually left the agency and formed Dave & Rory. Actually, they each formed their own entity, with Clark calling his Dave & Rory, and Hanrahan naming his Rory & Dave.
When they signed with Mekanism, they chose to go with Dave & Rory. But they have no problem with you calling them Rory & Dave.
To put it mildly, the guys were thrilled when Mekanism founder Tommy Means called and asked them to work with his company after seeing HandSolo, a short film they had done for Qualcomm through New York-based Hill & Knowlton.
“I think he saw that we had a lot of the same comedic sensibilities when he saw that film,” Clark said.
Once again, the HandSolo job came out of Dave & Rory being opportunistic. They had been working with Hill & Knowlton on a writing project and let the agency know that they also made films. Before long, they had pitched the idea of HandSolo, which chronicles the invention of a futuristic phone that is implanted in one’s pinky and thumb. Hill & Knowlton jumped on the idea for their client Qualcomm, which distributed HandSolo internally before it found its way to the web.
It was hardly a big budget venture, so Dave & Rory did some run-and-gun shooting around New York City and pulled the project together by calling in favors.
Now that they are with Mekanism, their budgets are bigger, and they don’t have to beg their friends for help. At the moment, Dave & Rory are working on a few projects, including a nonlinear branded entertainment show for Microsoft. It’s a client-direct project based on a concept by Means. They can’t reveal much except to say that it involved a cast of 500 and a massive, six-day shoot that took them from New York to Los Angeles.
Additionally, the guys are directing a series of comedic shorts for eBay via Hill & Knowlton. Set in a retro chat show environment, the shorts explore the idea of using your senses when you’re shopping online.
Dave & Rory are also shooting a 22-minute documentary directly for Electronic Arts. The film examines the life of the main character in an upcoming game based on World War II. Dave & Rory have imagined a rather ridiculous story, centering on an Irish man who becomes a French resistance fighter, but it is told in all seriousness.
Hanrahan noted that he appreciates having a directing partner more than ever now that he is at Mekanism where their projects are getting bigger. “When there’s two of you, you feel like someone else has got your back,” Hanrahan said, adding, “and you don’t try to keep things small and limited. We go for it and try to do a crazy amount in a shooting day. We never hold back, and I think fear would stop me if I were on my own. I know that for sure.”
When it comes to how Dave & Rory work together, it is different on every project. Sometimes they direct together, sometimes they go off on their own to shoot. “If we have a little bit more time, we really like to work together, and we check in with each other and see what’s going on constantly. It’s like we’re having a dialogue while we’re shooting,” Clark shared. “But we’ve had projects where the amount of time or the intensity makes it necessary for us to split up and check in less often. That’s fun, too. It’s always surprising to get back together and see what the other one has shot.”
As you might imagine given how outrageously funny their output is, Dave & Rory have a lot of fun when they are working.
When they were back at Mother and putting together the Department of Humor Analysis campaign for TBS, the men, both of whom happen to live in Brooklyn, would meet up and walk to Manhattan together in the morning, trading potential jokes and gags for the campaign, Clark recalled, noting what a blast they had during those strolls. “If you’re not having fun doing something, there’s no reason to do it,” Clark mused. “You might as well become a tax attorney or something.”
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More