By Robert Goldrich

“It’s fun to create these different worlds,” said director Rupert Sanders of MJZ regarding his work over the past year such as Monster.com’s “Legs” for BBDO New York, and Travelers’ “Delivery” from Fallon Minneapolis, two of the spots which helped him earn in January his second career Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award nomination as best commercial director of the year.
    While he doesn’t know what new paths his spotmaking will traverse, Sanders has a firm grasp of how his ad industry endeavors have evolved over the last couple of years.
    “I’ve had the chance to be more the owner of narrative storytelling, to build films that have emotion, that are not just visual. Yet they are in the context of different worlds. I feel fortunate to have gotten the chance to take on more visceral narrative cinematic pieces.”
    “Legs” and “Delivery” certainly are larger than life stories but their success is that they are slices of life to which people can still readily relate and enjoy on various levels.
    Consider “Legs” which charmingly tells the tale of a man who gets out of bed and gets ready for work. He walks through a quaint, picturesque village and then the camera reveals him to have massive legs that dwarf the rest of his body even though he himself is a big man who towers over all others. We see him pass villagers from all walks of life, some engaged in mundane tasks, others in more significant endeavors such as a young couple who just got married and are celebrating. Our large-legged protagonist briefly joins the joyous celebration before continuing on his way.
    He then arrives at what looks like an isolated shed in the middle of a field. He enters the makeshift structure, which we discover houses a rickety elevator that he takes down to the depths of the earth.
    As the elevator descends rapidly, he holds his ears in discomfort due to the jarring drop in altitude. The elevator door opens, placing him in what looks like a mineshaft. He walks through the shaft catacombs, which have the feel of an elaborate maze, and finally arrives at his destination–an enormous gyrosphere contraption that centers on another man who’s seated upon a bicycle and peddling away feverishly. He too has massive legs and is glad to see the relief shift coming to take over his duties.
    For a moment he stops peddling so that his replacement can take over. When the peddling comes to a halt, so too does the power throughout the village. The abrupt nature of this transition jostles about a man taking a bath as water jumps out of the tub, knocks another gent off his bike as he was riding through a field, and causes the bride, groom and rest of the wedding party to topple just as a camera is taking a picture of them.
    Our original large-legged chap then begins peddling and in the process returns the village to normalcy.
    Sanders created an unusual world right down to village inhabitants speaking Esperanto, a language that was created to be universal but has instead become relatively obscure.
    Nonetheless this quirky world with all its esoteric touches is one that viewers can easily connect to, which from a storyteller’s perspective represents a delicate balancing act.
    It’s a balancing act that plays out naturally and authentically, translating into a common thread that runs through Sanders’ body of work, also reflected in the whimsical world presented in Travelers’ “Delivery” in which a man with a giant umbrella magically comes to the rescue and aid of everyday people..
    In one sequence, the umbrella even serves as a boat giving circus peformers safe passage across a river . In another scene, the umbrella takes flight as the man uses it to get children back to their home.
    Then there’s the recently debuted “Field Generals” for Nike’s Brand Jordan out of Wieden+Kennedy, New York. Here Sanders introduces us to a world we know, pro basketball, but the game plays out like a revelation.
    “The concept as it was presented to me was simply basketball at war, basketball is war,” related Sanders.
    The court has the feel of a battlefield as NBA stars like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and Rip Hamilton seem more like warriors waging a frenetic, fast paced war.
    The shouting we hear on the “battlefield” adds to the chaotic, other worldly feel. Yet the emotion conveyed is a part of the game to which viewers can relate.
    “This was another kind of a world that I very much enjoyed having a voice in,” said the director.
    In postproduction at press time were several other worlds directed by Sanders, including an ITV campaign for BBH London, a Puma job out of Droga 5, New York, and a package of adidas commercials via 180 Amsterdam. Though he wasn’t at liberty to discuss these projects in detail, Sanders noted that they all took him to new places which he found both challenging and rewarding.
    At the same time, Sanders would like to diversify into another world, that of feature filmmaking,
    “I’ve come close on a couple of projects that haven’t materialized. But it comes down to being careful. You can’t just rush into something you regret. That approach has served me well in commercials so I’m sticking to it. “
    Asked to elaborate on that approach, the director related, “You have to find a project you can wholeheartedly invest in because ultimately it will describe who you are as a filmmaker. You can’t just take on anything that you aren’t very much invested in. This isn’t a nine-to-five job. It’s a passion.” 

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