Five Union Square Productions, New York, has secured three directors: Nadav Kander, of London; Amsterdam-based Leen Thijsse, and Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, who lives in New York.
All three are represented by Five Union Square’s New York-based still-photography counterpart, Stockland Martel, and will continue to do still work in addition to helming spots. Both companies are headed by owners/ founders Bill Stockland and Maureen Martel, and soon the production house will reflect the companies’ relationship: Effective January 1, 2001, Five Union Square Productions will become Stockland Martel Films.
Kander recently shot Mt. Sinai Hospital’s "A Higher Understanding" via Grey Worldwide, New York. The spot reflects Kander’s background as a photographer, with its sensitive, striking black-and-white depictions of people in various states of ill health. Kander is repped by Premiere Heure, Paris, for film and television. For stills, he is repped by Veronique Peres-Domergue (also in Paris) throughout Europe, and by Burnham Niker (in London) for the U.K.
The self-trained Kander, who grew up in Johannesburg, stated, "I started photographing when I was 13, and I never really stopped." After a mandatory stint in the South African Air Force, where he served as a black-and-white printer, Kander moved to London in 1983, at age 21. There he worked for photographer Peter Hopkins, and by ’86 was a professional himself. He has been repped by Stockland Martel in the U.S. since ’88.
"Right from the beginning," Kander recalled, "I never took on anything that wasn’t right for me; I never believed in climbing the ladder, starting with small clients and getting bigger clients. I just thought, ‘Photograph what’s right for you.’ "
With film, "It’s exactly the same thing. I’m not really looking for a film career; I’ve got more than enough that I’m so happy with in stills, the art and commercial worlds." Elaborating, he added, "I will approach film in the same way. If something comes my way that is image and mood based, and it’s got the right creative people behind it, I will be interested. But if it’s corporate or storytelling or wrong for me, then I probably won’t."
Kander said that he had no particular interest in filmmaking until November ’99, when Grey Worldwide, New York, creative director Denise O’Bleness asked Kander to helm a spot for Mt. Sinai. Even though she knew he had never directed, O’Bleness wanted to use Kander: "I kept him in mind for anything that was dramatic and truthful," she explained. Kander agreed, and was pleased to find the production and postproduction process stimulating. He offered, "I think the thing that is quite different about me is that my life is rooted in photography, not in commercial work. I don’t get my inspiration from the business. My inspiration comes from without, and hopefully people see how they can apply my work to what they do."
Kander’s book of photographs, tentatively titled Beauty’s Nothing, will be published by Arena Editorial, Santa Fe, N.M., in May ’01.
Thijsse has directed and DP’d German power company HEW’s "Diver" and "Diver 2" via Jacoby & Springer, Hamburg. Like Kander, he started filming at the behest of an art director. Martin Schmidt—who was at Jacoby & Springer at the time and now runs the company Jo Schmidt Film Production, Hamburg—had worked with Thijsse on several print projects, and in ’95 he suggested they collaborate on a commercial. Thijsse agreed, and since then has been repped in Europe for spots by Jo Schmidt Film Production. He no longer does print work in Europe, but has been repped here by Stockland Martel for still photography since ’93.
Thijsse, who has no formal training, worked for a photographer for two years ("I wasn’t much of an assistant!" he admitted) before opening his own studio in Amsterdam in ’85. Nowadays, Thijsse is based in his small hometown of Kootwyk, the Netherlands, not far from Amsterdam.
Like Kander, Thijsse is adamant about not giving up photography: "A lot of photographers really want to jump into film and become directors; I don’t have that drive. I’m doing it both, and I will continue to do both."
He believes that most commercials are too concerned with ever-changing trends: "That’s something I have against films; there’s a lot of trends that quickly change. I like to just develop my films in a slower mode, and do it in combination with print work."
Thijsse added, "Film is an enlargement of my print capabilities. As a European, I see it very simply: It’s a moving camera, and it’s a still camera. Everything else is the same. I try not to make a big fuss, so I can really control the image in a photographic way, really nail that down. I can choose the jobs I want to do, and I can make them very photographic—beautiful landscapes, beautiful scenery. That’s what I love to do."
Greenfield-Sanders directed the documentary Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart for PBS’ American Masters series. Greenfield-Sanders graduated from the American Film Institute, Beverly Hills (now Hollywood), with an MFA in film in ’77. However, until recently he concentrated almost entirely on portrait photography. Greenfield-Sanders has been repped by Stockland Martel since ’88.
The documentary about former Velvet Underground frontman Reed began after Greenfield-Sanders photographed a portrait of the musician back in ’92. Eventually the pair became friends and, "I started to follow Lou around with a video camera. He’d invite me to concerts and I’d videotape that. He’d call up and say, ‘I’m going to Venice tomorrow and I have an extra ticket; do you want to go?’ So I’d grab my video camera and jump on a plane. This was just for myself, just for fun."
When he had collected enough material, Greenfield-Sanders started to think about turning it into an independent film. But when he bumped into Susan Lacy, the executive producer at PBS’ American Masters, she offered to show the documentary on the program. Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart was shown on television in ’98, and was screened at a number of festivals, including the Sundance and the Berlin Film festivals. Greenfield-Sanders won a Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video for the documentary in ’99.
With few commercial credits, Greenfield-Sanders uses his film as his reel. He, too, remains loyal to still photography: "I don’t really see any hierarchy between photography and filmmaking. I don’t see making a film as more important than taking a portrait. For me, it’s whether I enjoy the work, the project and the people."
Unlike many photographers who also direct, Greenfield-Sanders is not just interested in images. He looks forward to working with people: "There are 35 interviews in Lou Reed—from David Bowie to Patty Smith to all the Warhol stars. I’m very good at getting people to talk and be comfortable in front of the camera."
Greenfield-Sanders added that he is known for working with a large-format camera. He said that this has helped him as a director: "I think it makes you very aware of what you’re framing, because you don’t shoot as much film; it makes you really conscious of what’s inside the frame. You really need to concentrate when you’re shooting. And I think that’s the secret to making a good film, too—knowing what you want. On a typical shoot with a large-format camera, I might only shoot six to 10 frames. I don’t think you need to do more than that if you know what you’re doing. My style is meditative: It’s the Zen of photography," he laughed.
Five Union Square Productions’ directorial roster also consists of Joe Kanellitsas; Brian Koons and Bruce Wolf. Director Tom Schiller recently departed the shop and has joined bicoastal Coppos Films (see separate story, p. 7). Also no longer with Five Union Square is executive producer Barbara Gold.
The company is repped nationally by Michelle Sack in New York.
