Commercial director and former agency creative June Manton has joined New York-based Open Frame Productions.
After a two-year stint with Venice, Calif.-based Drive (formerly Shut Up and Drive), Manton decided that she simply wanted to be with a New York-based production company. I live in New York and I think to some extent its important to have a physical presence with people and be able to put a name with a face, explained Manton, who met Open Frame executive producers Nan Swoyer and Andrew Swee through a mutual friend. According to Manton, it was immediately obvious after the meeting that her work would be a natural fit for the shop.
Mantons style constantly crosses the line between drama and comedy. Its not unusual to have a spot open with a serious tone, only to end with a comedic twist. For instance, in an ad she recently directed for First National Bank of Omaha via Bozell Worldwide, Omaha, titled Forlorn, an apparent jilted lover strolls along empty city streets in the rain looking sadly at couples in love. Finally, he peers inside a shop window and a look of despair crosses his face as he gazes longingly at a woman-counting money! The voiceover asks: Feel as if youll never see your money again?
I like dealing with character and people. I hope the one thing I communicate is a certain depth of character in my work, said Manton, whos toyed with the idea of taking an acting class to further her depth as a director.
Part of Mantons directorial talent has been fed by a long and varied career. She studied economics at Cornell University and The London School of Economics while simultaneously taking art classes. After graduation she worked at a number of advertising agencies as an art director and in the early 80s directed the documentary Einsteins Chil-dren, which won a Jury Prize at the Chicago Film Festival and aired on WNYC-TV New York. She finally landed at what is now Ammirati Puris Lintas, New York, where she spent the bulk of her agency career as an art director/creative director. It was while she was at Ammirati that Manton got the itch to direct. Ive always heard about these women getting these mega jobs in advertising but I was never envious, yet whenever I would hear about a woman becoming a director, thats when I would start to feel it in my stomach, said Manton.
She followed her instincts and left Ammirati in 93 to enroll in the New York Film Academy while continuing to freelance as an agency art director. After graduating in 94, Manton got her reel together, targeting the commercial directing industry because she identified with the creative side of the business. In 1996 she joined Drive, whose parent company is Canadas Circle Productions (with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Venice, Calif.). Her commercial credits include spots for Noxema via Leo Burnett, Toronto, Canadian Tire Auto Club via Young & Rubicam, Toronto, Portland-based KKRZ FM, also known as Z100 via Nerve Co., Portland (formerly known as fuel inc.), and a Lifetime network PSA for breast cancer prevention.
While Manton pursues more commercial gigs, she is currently working on honing her storytelling skills by finishing up her first screenplay. Manton joins Open Frame directors Kevin Jones, Linzi Knight and David Stewart. Open Frame is repped by Perry Schaffer on the East Coast and Tim Harwood in the Midwest.
