By ROBERT GOLDRich
GROUSING ABOUT THE STATE of the business has become a full-time pastime for many. Nonetheless, in the midst of much negative talk, there are positive constants within our industry that are too often taken for granted. And sadly, it sometimes takes something tragic to help us realize the value of what we have; in this case, the special relationships that can be enjoyed in a collaborative process.
I didn’t know P. Scott Makela personally, I only knew of his reputation as a preeminent graphic and multimedia designer. He died earlier this month at the age of 39 from a rare infection of the epiglottis. Scott and his wife, Laurie Haycock Makela, co-chaired the 2-D design department at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and founded a design studio named Makela (originally Words + Pictures for Business + Culture). In recent years, Scott Makela was working on integrating print design and typography with motion and sound for spots, videos, CD-ROMs and Websites.
Two of his prime collaborators in commercials and music videos were director Jeffery Plansker of Propaganda Films and editor Steve Svendsen of Crazy Horse Editorial. Both Plansker and Svendsen feel a profound sense of loss, having worked regularly with Makela on assorted projects since the early ’90s. Plansker and Svendsen, though, noted that it didn’t take Makela’s passing to help them realize how special he was both as an artistic collaborator and a friend.
When he was directing via The A+R Group back in ’92, Plansker met Makela. They first teamed on a spot for a TV station in Vancouver, B.C. They went on to tackle a music video for 10,000 Maniacs and later-once Plansker was at Propaganda-commercials for such clients as Lotus, MCI and Bell South. "Scott was much like his graphic design in that film images would bounce off of his design and his design would bounce off of images-that’s how completely he worked with others and integrated his work into film," related Plansker. "Scott was trying to almost bend type and give it a sense of dimension. Some type would appear as if it were swollen from a bee sting. It was his way of taking type off of the page. We started shooting his type and graphics with a motion control camera. His type and graphics became more and more like something we were actually shooting on a set rather than just putting under a copy camera."
Plansker described Makela as being "more than just a companion in the work. He was someone who had to suffer through the same disappointments from people incapable of understanding him or too fearful of ideas unfamiliar to them. His loss is terrible. It’s barely sunk in for me. It’s tragic in terms of his family-leaving behind his wife and kids. And professionally, it’s tragic because as much as he accomplished, he was on the verge of doing so much more. He wasn’t merely a decorator which is what most designers tend to be. There was a point of view, a strategy and an education he brought to the work. And at the same time, while he was aware of the academics of design, his work was not academic. It was visceral and intuitive."
Svendsen most remembers Makela’s generosity. "He allowed me to work as an editor," said Svendsen. "He wanted people to use their skills and technology to enhance the work. He embraced anything that could take his message and give it a new dimension."
"Scott’s death marks an end to an era in my work," observed Plansker. "That’s how much he affected me. That’s how wonderful the collaborative process can be and why we’re fortunate to do what we do. What I now must do is realize that Scott’s spirit lives on and will still influence my work. I need to be true to that spirit."
Oscar-Nominated Director Sean Wang Joins Park Pictures For Spots, Branded Content
Park Pictures has added director Sean Wang to its roster of talent for representation spanning commercials and branded content. His feature-length debut, Dìdi, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired by Focus Features and released later that summer to critical acclaim.
Wang is a Taiwanese-American filmmaker hailing from Fremont, Calif., and currently based in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Park Pictures, he was repped by Even/Odd Studios. Often pulling from his lived experiences, Wang can turn hyper-specific story points into universally relatable, memorable moments.
Dìdi won the U.S. Dramatic Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize for Best Ensemble Cast at the Sundance Film Festival. His documentary short Nai Nai & Wài Pó premiered at SXSW 2023, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, later earning an Oscar nomination. The film following Wang’s two grandmothers is currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Other films from Wang include the lauded documentary shorts 3,000 Miles, H.A.G.S., and Still Here. As a Google Creative Lab 5 Alumnus, Wang has directed several commercial campaigns for Google that highlighted live captions and teased large news from the tech conglomerate, including an ad that aired during the 2017 Emmy Awards.
Wang said of Park Pictures, “I can’t think of a better artistic home for me as a director. The work that comes out of Park Pictures is incredible, and I admire the work they do in advertising and the documentary and narrative space. Everyone I’ve met there is just as obsessed with making great films as I am, and I look forward to growing my career with them as I move into the commercial space.”
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