Dick Sittig knows Jack the ball-headed Jack-in-the-Box character, which hes brought to creative life in subversively funny spots for years, initially in his former creative director role at TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, and now at his own Santa Monica agency, Kowloon Wholesale Seafood Company. Not only does he write for Jack, he also has directed nearly 80 spots for the client since late 94.
Sittig isnt alone in that hes a creative who directs. But what sets him apart from the typical adman who hankers to direct is that he maintains a foot in both worlds: while he works on staff at an agency, he is separately represented for directorial projects by a production company; in this case, bicoastal/international @radical.media.
The phenomenon isnt just confined to creatives; several editors have directing deals with production houses while also employed by post houses. But the major difference between director/creatives and director/ editors is that creatives often (but not always) concept the work they direct, but the editors SHOOT interviewed say they never cut what they shoot.
However, both groups face certain obstacles that stand in the way of making such a set-up successful. Employers usually dont want to share creatives or editors with others; the workload of an agency creative or editor is a full-time job in and of itself, andafor creativesathere can be conflicts of interest if the production company gets boards from clients that represent direct competition with their agencys accounts.
Problem/No Problem
Sittig reports that, as far as conflicts of interest go, its not really an issue. His first priority is to the $55 million Jack-in-the-Box account, and hed reject a directing job for McDonalds or any fast food chain. Why do I need another hamburger spot on my reel anyway? asks Sittig.
Dave Merhar, creative director/principal at three year old Chicago-based agency Fusion Idea Lab, is also repped by Santa Monica production house Visitor. Fusion handles some project work for Anheuser-Busch, and Merhar has helmed a number of Bud Light spots, some created by Fusionaincluding the Super Bowl-aired Launchaand others out of DDB Needham Chicago (Merhars former agency of seven years).
Merhar says its understood by everyone that he wont direct any non-Anheuser Busch beer spots. Ethically, it would be incorrect, says Merhar. I mean, I could do it; it just wouldnt be wise for Fusion.
At the same time, Merhar acknowledges that theres another fine line that directors/creatives have to carefully tread. He notes that when directing a Fusion project, sometimes conflicts can arise over his vision of a board and that of his agency colleagues. On those occasions, he says, he treats Fusion as the agency. You can get carried away directing, and you might push it into a direction thats not correct, Merhar observes. You have to have a second party watching out for the clients interests.
Amplifying that observation is Gary McKendry, an associate creative director at Margeotes, Fertitta+Partners, New York, who has an informal agreement with New York-based OKO Productions, which specializes in independent film productions. In reference to helming projects that he helped conceptualize, McKendry observes that some separation is needed. When youre on set, youre the director; you cant also wear the art director hat. And you cant be the art director because you have to be strong and keep respect from the crewwhich is already suspicious when they see a creative directing.
McKendry began directing spots informally five years ago through his former agency, Ogilvy & Mather, New York, working on the American Express international campaign. He has 16 spots to his credit, including ads for Margeotes clients Jovan and radio station Z-100. More recently, hes directed for accounts from outside the agency, including Bus Fare for Crunch Fitness out of DDB Needham New York, which spoofs Midnight Cowboy, and two client-direct spots Made in England and Men Swear for retailer Paul Smith.
By far, the biggest problem cited as plaguing those who wear two hats is scheduling conflicts; many say theyve had to turn down directing assignments due to prior commitments.
@radical.media principal/ executive producer Frank Scherma reports that there have been conflicts in scheduling Sittig, whos been on the roster since 95, but he adds this is by no means unique. His time is like that of any other director, says Scherma. [Doing both jobs] isnt the easiest thing in the world to do, but being a director isnt the easiest thing in the world to do. Theres tons of directors working on all sorts of stuffain their personal life, in the movie world, etc.aso its up to a good production company to help manage directors schedules and careers so the conflicts are at a minimum.
@radical has produced some non-Jack-in-the-Box jobs for Sittig, such as Kubota tractors via Rubin Postaer and Associates, Santa Monica, and Lee Jeans and Miller Lite spots, both out of Fallon McElligott, Minneapolis. But most are for Jack, a character that Sittig is deeply invested inaeven to the point of giving Jack a family: a lookalike son (The giant white head is the dominant gene, says Sittig), a normal-looking wife (a babe) and a golden retriever. It is even Sittigs cynicism-drenched voice delivering Jacks lines of dialogue in the spots.
Awards have validated Sittigs efforts: his Jacks Visit spot won a 98 Cannes Gold Lion and was honored in the copywriting category of The AICP Show at MoMA last year as were two other Sittig-directed spots, Spicy Crispy Chicks (awarded for humor) and Driving Test (dialogue/monologue). I can sleep at night, relates Sittig. I dont feel theres somebody [else] out there who can do this campaign justice.
Cutting Conflicts
Stephen Orent, executive producer/partner at bicoastal Hungry Man, also reports some time conflicts with regard to company director Paul Norling, who came aboard in 98 and is also a partner/editor at FilmCore Editorial, Santa Monica. Orent relates, for instance, they had to pass on a Gatorade spot that starred Michael Jordan, via Foote, Cone & Belding, Chicago, because Norling was booked on an edit job.
As Pauls reel has been building, more people want him, says Orent, who just booked Norling on a four spot Eggo waffles package out of Leo Burnett Co., Chicago. As hes getting busier, its really starting to become a conflict now. I imagine in the next six months, well all have to sit down and figure it out. But were respectful of [his editing time] and what well try to do is take the jobs he directs to FilmCore. So theyre losing Paul as an editor, but theyre gaining a job.
This compromise is also envisioned by Chuck Willis, an editor/principal at Crew Cuts, New York, who signed with bicoastal Headquarters a year ago. Noting that he is spread too thin every day, Willis says, Im spread thin [just] as an editor, so when you add directing to the mix, it gets unbelievable. I have two partners at Crew Cuts and so far, Ive been able to walk the line [between directing and cutting]. But eventually I wont be able to. My hope is that the work I direct I can bring here to be edited; maybe that would be the tradeoff. We havent yet had to cross that bridge, but we certainly will.
Merhar adds that, without cooperation from both companies, his arrangement wouldnt work. Luckily, he says, his partners at Fusion are very capable of handling the business aspect and letting him do what he needs to do. And on the production side, says Merhar, they need to understand that my time has to sometimes be devoted to creating ideas for a different client. As long as theres an understanding, youre not really straddling the fenceayoure jumping back and forth over it. (That understanding is helped along by the fact that Visitor owners Olivier Katz and James Wahlberg also own a stake in Fusion.)
But for former fence straddler Sean Mullens, who signed as a full-time director at Headquarters last November, it wasnt his employer but himself who realized something had to give. A former creative director at Foote, Cone & Belding/San Francisco, Mullens was also signed to Commotion Pictures, San Francisco, for music video representation from August 97 to August 98. In that time, he co-directed four FCB Levis spots Submerge, Dive, Free Ride and Box (with co-director/designer Graham Wood of Tomato, London, repped stateside by bicoastal Curious Pictures) and solo directed a music video A Shelf in the Room for Days Of The New.
Mullens explains that staying with FCB while pursuing directing was, more or less, a matter of convenienceawhich ultimately became inconvenience. As a fledgling director, you dont have that many opportunities, says Mullens. The smartest thing to do is stay at the agency and draw a salary, and be able to still work on great creative; I was working on MTV and Levis at the time. That way, while I was writing music video treatments, I still had a safety net if things didnt go all that well.
But as Mullens became increasingly committed to directing, he decided he wasnt being fair to FCB or his client, and left in July 98. My heart wasnt in it 100 percent, says Mullens, who now offers his services as a freelance creative; he has mainly targeted San Francisco agencies Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Goldberg Moser ONeill. I started to realize that the more I was detaching myself away from pure advertising, the less tolerance I had for all the bullshit that went along with it, namely, the internal agency politics.
Best of Both
Yet for others, pursuing directing while involved in conceptualizing ad campaigns or cutting spots offers the best of both worlds, and it is worth putting up with the hasslesaat least for the time being, anyway. For Willis, for instance, although hes been editing for 18 years and founded Crew Cuts 12 years ago, directing was his initial goalaediting was a career he was sidetracked into.
I always kept thinking the directing thing would take off, says Willis, who studied film at Bostons Emerson College and pursued acting for nine years after moving to New York, believing it to be good preparation for directing performances. Editing was my day job and [directing] kind of got away from me. I was being well-received as an editor so I never quite made the transition.
About two years ago, BBDO New York provided Willis the entree to directing with a piece for a Pepsi convention. For BBDO, hes also helmed spots The Bite for Pizza Hut and Baby for Baked Ruffles; recent credits include Namath and Running for NFL Films via Mercury Advertising, Wrightsville Beach, South Carolina.
In a large sense, says Willis, the years hes spent cutting spots have been invaluable in honing his comedy directing skills. I know its the little things, performance things, that make or break that kind of work, says Willis. And as an editor, Im relied upon to doctor things and make them funny in a lot of the stuff I get.
Norling agrees, and asserts that he had basically begun to direct spots in the editing room, on numerous projects with amazing footage but no storyboard. For those unstructured pieces, theres no hard and fast rules, says Norling. So you begin directing these things, with the art directors and writers. I think that much of that experience will help me a lot as a director. I dont think I could go out and shoot the volumes of film that Ive seen people do. [Id want to have] a strong point of view about what it is I want to do.
A 15 year editing veteran, Norling first directed six years ago, shooting a Nike spot via Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, and a couple of client-direct spots for Switch-It transistor radio written by Mark Fenske. Norling was bitten by the bug, and agreed to be repped by Crash Films, Santa Monica. But ultimately, editing assignments cut into his time and curtailed his involvement in directing.
The directing bug returned full-force last April when Norling got the opportunity to co-direct a Tidy Cat spot via Fallon McElligott Berlin (now Berlin Cameron & Partners), New York, with Hungry Man director Hank Perlman. After that enjoyable experience, Perlman persuaded Norling he should step up his directing activities. A month later, ESPN SportsCenter called to ask Norling if hed like to take a crack at shooting a 10 spot package for them. He did, and followed it up by shooting a P&C Bank job for McKinney & Silver, Raleigh, N.C. In September, he joined Hungry Man.
Yet with all the problemsafrom mind-numbing scheduling logistics to being spread too thinatheres also an inherent power for some, particularly those agency creatives who are repped as directors by production companies. McKendry notes that lines between agencies and production houses are starting to blur in some instances. A lot of production companies are actually writing and making ads. I think any smart agency is going to get with the program and realize theres a lot of clients out there that dont want all the big overhead that traditionally comes with an agency. I think directors that can create are pretty powerful creatures, and creatives who can shoot are better off too.u
