SANTA MONICA-Director Carolyn Coal-who last year won a Gold Clio in the student category for "It’s Claire," a poignant AIDS Awareness Durex condoms commercial she conceptualized, produced and helmed at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena-has joined bicoastal Headquarters for exclusive spot representation. Coal was formerly repped through Chemistry, the successor shop to Harmony Pictures that recently closed (SHOOT, 12/4/98, p. 1).
Headquarters secures Coal just as her career momentum is building. Later this month, her short film, "Cache," is scheduled to be screened at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. She credited her former roost, Chemistry, with submitting the film to Sundance and described her brief stay at that company as a rewarding experience.
"Cache" centers on four women involved in an ill-fated bank robbery. Written, produced and directed by Coal, the short flashes back on each woman’s life, offering insights into the characters and what led to their foray into crime. "Cache" won a certificate of merit for experimental film at WorldFest, Houston, and has also been accepted at such showcases as Frameline, San Francisco, Image and Nation, Montreal, and Feminale, Cologne, Germany.
At press time, Coal was about to embark on production of another independent short, "Tell Me Who Ruby Was," which she is doing in tandem with Ortolan Films, a Los Angeles-based design firm that’s moved into independent filmmaking under the aegis of exec. producer Paula Rice.
Yet while she remains active in the indie film arena, Coal noted that commercials are a high-priority pursuit for her. Years ago, she earned a degree in advertising at Penn State and at that time thought she would become a copywriter. Career twists and turns brought her into filmmaking, but when she landed at Art Center, she attained nirvana: the opportunity to combine her two professional loves, filmmaking and advertising. "I love to execute concepts. The puzzle of doing that in 15, 30 or 60 seconds is so sharpening to my skills. And I love to work with a group of people to help realize concepts and solve problems."
Coal graduated from Art Center last May, shortly after winning a Gold Clio for the aforementioned ad, which draws a parallel between Durex condoms and a highway guardrail. The guardrail is shown simply and starkly from the perspective of a passenger in a moving car while a voiceover phone conversation between two former lovers plays; after some small talk, the man informs the woman that he has tested HIV-positive, at which point the woman hangs up and a dial tone is heard. The ribbon of guardrail abruptly ends. Coal explained that she chose the guardrail because for her it represents a sense of protection. "It’s an interesting, lurid, somewhat sexy image to put against some banal conversation, until you realize what the conversation is ultimately about. HIV is unforgiving, and to me it’s an ominous image when you run out of guardrail." Coal also gravitated toward the imagery because she remembers daydreaming as a child while watching guardrails zip by during long car rides with her parents.
Coal’s other spec fare is also simple and direct. A spot for a home pregnancy test, done in a single take, depicts a woman sitting alone in a bathroom waiting for the test strip to show its result. As she waits, she goes through a series of emotions-joy, uncertainty, fear-all without uttering a word. Another Coal spec piece, for adidas, shows a series of slice-of-life scenes in which a group of young women argue over the correct pronunciation of the athletic apparel/shoemaker’s name.
Headquarters’ partner/director of sales Tom Mooney said he was attracted to Coal based on "Cache" and the reel of spec spots she did while at Art Center. "The spots all are strong conceptually and show that she’s attuned to selling a product," related Mooney. "Out of all the reels I’ve gotten in recent months, hers stood out-you can see the concepts and you can see she’s a director who’s good at working with talent. And most impressive is the fact that she made it happen-she took the initiative and produced this work, making her vision a reality."
Alex Blum, partner/exec. producer at Headquarters, also cited Coal’s conceptual prowess. "Typically, spec work from young talent is visually interesting, but there’s no concept or barely a concept," he observed. "Carolyn had concepts and developed them fully."
Coal said a producer friend introduced her to Blum and Mooney and that she immediately felt comfortable with them. "I need to entrust my career to people I respect so that I can be free to direct," she related. "And I feel good about Headquarters helping to develop me in commercials."
