By SARAH WOODWARD
Largely on the strength of two spots for Santa Monica public radio station KCRW, director Jim Byrkit has been signed by Atlas Pictures, the Santa Monica commercial house headed by president Sterling Ray.
The first spot, Rocket Girl, was originally a spec piece and features a woman navigating a rocket ship through an asteroid storm. Shot two years ago as a training exercise according to the director-Byrkit had access to a camera for a few spare hours-he built the cockpit out of inner tubes, cardboard and random junk, got a friend to play the lead, and in three hours the three-person crew wrapped. Eventually, Byrkit submitted the spot to KCRW, and within a month the station began screening it at L.A.-area theaters.
Rocket Girl garnered such a positive response that KCRW commissioned Byrkit directly for a second spot. That effort, Voices, was released eight months ago. Byrkit helmed a third commercial, a spec for Coca-Cola titled Scream Baby, then began shopping around for commercial representation.
L.A.-based freelance editor Luis Ruiz, who cut Voices, passed the directors reel on to Atlas in-house sales manager Alex Anderson. I get a lot of calls [for new directors], and I love to support the molding of upcoming talent, Anderson said. But some work is better than others, and I was just astonished when I saw [Jims] work. Its really fun and visually stylish, with a retro/futuristic flavor, clever effects and great live-action performances.
Anderson in turn passed the reel on to Ray, who recalled being impressed by the KCRW spots when he saw them in theaters. We werent actually looking to increase the roster at that time, but we couldnt pass Jim up either, Ray said. As you look at the reel you know right away that its more unique than most, if not all of the other reels out there. He also said that Atlas is building its reputation as a company that introduces new directors into the market while maintaining [relationships with our] longstanding clients.
Byrkit said he considered several production companies and wanted to work at a shop that was looking toward the future and wanted something bold and new. He cited Anderson as a significant force behind the companys new direction, and said both Anderson and Ray responded positively to his work. Atlas, he added, seems like a place that is in this amazing transition towards the future with young directors, much bolder visions and concepts that are more visually challenging.
Byrkits strong visual sense and interest in live-action performances stems from a background in theater design and production. A 93 graduate of California Institute of the Arts (CIA), Byrkit studied design and directing, and also did some acting. Since graduating, he has been working as a storyboard artist on spots, feature films and music videos, and over the past six years his associations with directors Gore Verbinski and Keir McFarlane, both now of bicoastal/international Propaganda Films, taught him how interesting and creatively satisfying commercials could be. Byrkit recently designed boards for Verbinskis Intel and Xerox assignments, as well as the feature film Mouse Hunt. With McFarlane, Byrkit storyboarded commercials as well as music videos, including Janet Jacksons You Want This and Twenty Foreplay. He has also worked with Antony Hoffman of bicoastal @radical.media, for whom he drew the boards for the memorable Budweiser spot which features the brewerys signature Clydesdale horses playing football. (Hoffman was repped by Propaganda at the time.)
Working by day as a storyboarder, Byrkit also developed his own projects on the side, including short films and what he calls experimental video projects designed to be very visually oriented. Through Bandar-log Studios in Valencia, Calif., which Byrkit formed in 93 with four of his fellow CIA graduates, the director has dabbled in everything from stop-motion animation to full-length [films]. The idea in forming the independent studio, he said, was to have a training ground for films and videos. We had a full shop, he continued, with models, lights, cameras, everything you need to do a production.
Bandar-log moved to Santa Monica two years ago, at which time it morphed into a post facility called Steam, which Byrkit is still associated with. He is currently editing a 12-minute short film that he directed, and that he describes as being about a very simple relationship [that is affected by] an absurd situation. Byrkit finances the projects himself and said that working on a tight budget is often a benefit as it inevitably spawns creative ingenuity-as evidenced by Rocket Girl. I love the challenge of making the most of a small budget, he said. One of the things I feel very confident about is getting every penny on screen. His goal, he said, is to continue doing these short films that I round up the resources myself and control the whole thing, and to fulfill [my role at] Atlas.
As SHOOT went to press, Atlas was in the process of lining up assignments for the director. Theres been real interest, Anderson said. Everything from the really creative $20,000 spots to giant $500,000 projects, but right now everything is pending.
In addition to Byrkit, Atlas represents directors Adam Massey, Alexander Von David and Toby Phillips. Massey is currently helming spots for Kellogg via J. Walter Thompson, New York, and Budweiser out of Open Minds in Laguna Beach, Calif. Von David is fulfilling assignments for ABC out of TBWA/Chiat/Day in L.A., and Subway via Publicis & Riney, Chicago. Phillips is completing spots for TWA via St. Louis-based DMB&B, and Maxfli golf equipment out of J. Walter Thompson, Atlanta.
Atlas action-oriented extreme sports division, Atlas Adrenaline, represents directors/cameramen Greg Stump and Chris Woods. Stumps feature film about Olympic Gold medallist Jonny Moseley, Festival of Moguls, recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He is currently directing a Chapstick spot with another Olympic Gold medallist, Picabo Street, out of Grey Advertising, New York. Woods was just awarded a Cortisone assignment via Cline, Davis & Mann, New York, and has been working on Baby Ruth for Dailey & Associates in Hollywood, and Mild Seven cigarettes out of the Hong Kong offices of Ogilvy & Mather.
Atlas and Atlas Adrenaline are repped on the West Coast by Anderson, on the East Coast by New York-based Yakkity Yak agents Jonathan Weinstein and Lynn Cunnane, and in the Midwest by Chicago-based independent Gabrielle Giebels.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More