Sydney-based director Matt Murphy has signed with Porter Film Company (PFC), Hollywood, for commercial representation in North and South America and in parts of Europe, including Italy and Germany. The signing marks the director’s first foray into the stateside market. Murphy continues to be represented in Australia and his native New Zealand by Silver Screen Productions, which has handled him for the past five years. Silver Screen maintains offices in the New Zealand cities of Auckland and Wellington, as well as in Sydney, Australia.
"Matt is a very innovative problem-solver who thrives on creative challenges," said PFC executive producer Fred Porter. "The entertainment value in the spots on his reel is great, but it also demonstrates a keen understanding of advertising and creative strategic thinking."
Murphy began his career as a freelance lighting technician in ’82. Three years later, he had graduated to serving as a production designer on feature and made-for-TV films in New Zealand. By ’93, however, his focus had shifted to commercials. While still a freelance production designer, he worked mostly for Silver Screen, Wellington, and launched his directorial career in ’95 at that company.
According to Porter, the director’s work combines epic-scale visual storytelling with performance/dialogue and cleverly designed effects. (Murphy was not available for comment at press time.) Coca-Cola’s "Big Shots" via McCann-Erickson, Sydney, Australia, for instance, features giant teenage skateboarders jumping buildings and trains in a modern metropolis. The ’97 ad was recognized with a Silver award at Australia’s Axis Awards, and was also a finalist at the London International Advertising Awards.
Murphy’s spot for Ergo Financial’s "The Pit" out of M & C Saatchi, Auckland, demonstrated the director’s resourcefulness. The ad’s concept was inspired by the famous photographs of Sebastio Salgado, whose work chronicles the manual laborers of the Industrial Age. "The Pit" was meant to depict thousands of workers digging for gold in an enormous pit near the Amazon River in Brazil. After researching various shooting locations, however, the agency nearly abandoned the project due to budget constraints. But Murphy was able to recreate the setting at an old quarry outside of Auckland. The ad went on to win an Australian Television Award for visual effects in ’97.
Additional Murphy credits include commercials for Fosters Lite via George Patterson Bates, Melbourne; Tiger Beer out of Saatchi & Saatchi, Singapore, and "Ducky," an award-winning ad for the Singapore Navy created by Saatchi & Saatchi, Singapore. "Ducky" opens on a scenario reminiscent of the tense submarine scenes in The Hunt for Red October. At the end of the ad, however, it is revealed that the underwater strife was only imagined by a man taking a bubble bath. A rubber ducky acts as the stealthy submarine.
According to Porter, the signing of Murphy marks a gradual expansion for PFC and reflects its continued involvement in Australia and New Zealand, where the company frequently shoots.
Murphy joins a PFC directorial roster that includes J. Brown, Carlo Sigon and Kimble Rendall. In-house rep Nancy Osborne handles sales in the Midwest and on the West Coast. The company is additionally represented by a pair of independents: Kansas City, Mo.-based Terri Montgomery, who is also involved in Midwest sales; and New York-based John Naitove, who handles the East Coast. Toronto-based Sparks Productions represents PFC in Canada.
