NEW YORK-Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York, dominated the television portion of the Art Directors Club Awards which were bestowed last week in New York. Cliff Freeman copped two TV golds and four silvers. Garnering gold for Cliff Freeman in the :30 or less campaign and :30 or less single spot categories, respectively, were: the Outpost.com package of commercials consisting of "Band," "Cannon" and "Forehead" directed by John O’Hagan of bicoastal Hungry Man; and FOX Sports’ "Rope" promoting the network’s Major League Baseball coverage.
"Rope" and fellow FOX spots "Horse" and "Pick-up" also received a silver in the :30 or less campaign category. Ditto for three additional FOX ads trumpeting Major League Baseball telecasts-"Shopping Cart," "Pole" and "Head." These six commercials were directed by Noam Murro of bicoastal HKM Productions.
Cliff Freeman’s other silver winner in the :30 or less campaign category was a FOX sports.com package comprised of "Feet," "Kids" and "Old Man" directed by Rocky Morton of Morton Jankel Zander, Los Angeles. Additionally, "Feet" earned silver in the :30 or less single spot category.
The only other television work to win gold were spots promoting the MTV Video Music Awards, and Saturday Night Live’s "Hete Roy." The latter topped the animation category and was directed and designed by J.J. Sedelmaier of J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, White Plains, N.Y., for NBC’s in-house agency. Meanwhile the MTV fare was done by MTV’s in-house department which included directors Tim Abshire, Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire. Abshire has since joined bicoastal Shelter Films for spot representation.
Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., scored a pair of TV silvers: Miller High Life’s "Boat," "Mayonnaise" and "Router" collectively earned distinction in the :30 or less campaign category; and "Boat" won in the :30 or less category. The Miller High Life ads were directed by Errol Morris of bicoastal/ international radical. media.
And production house Hungry Man had a hand in two additional silver winners: the Television Bureau’s "Doctor" from Fitzgerald+CO., Atlanta, gained recognition in the over :30 category; and Comedy Central’s "Presidents Message" for New York agency Dweck, copped the low budget (under $50,000) category. "Doctor" was directed by Hungry Man’s David Shane while "President’s Message" was helmed by Mark Foster and Hank Perlman, both of Hungry Man.