NEW YORK-In a bid to distinguish itself in a marketplace saturated with commercial directors, five-year-old Big Picture Communications, New York, has pared down its directorial roster. The shop no longer handles directors David Leach, Brian Bain and Ric Cohn. At press time, their future plans weren’t known.
At the same time, Big Picture exec. producer Ava Seavey has signed director Wendy Hammond. The theory behind the restructuring: Fewer directors equals more personal attention.
"With all the directors out there now, I wanted to take a bold initiative. For me that meant that I wanted to take a more hands-on approach as an executive producer," explained Seavey, who is opposed to the trend of hiring an independent rep to market her directors. "I believe there needs to be more involvement on an executive level and with the amount of directors I had, I felt I was spread too thin," related Seavey, who also noted that the parting of ways with Leach, Bain and Cohn was amicable.
Big Picture chose which directors to keep based on a revised company mission of focusing on helmers who can help realize Seavey’s vision of attracting more conceptual storytelling spots with worldwide appeal. Big Picture’s roster now includes directors Joe Chapura, Bill Manson and Hammond, who fulfills another of Seavey’s initiatives, to develop minority and female talent. Seavey is in the process of establishing a program that will identify and grow the minority sector of the marketplace, which she feels is largely underrepresented.
Hammond brings a host of talents to Big Picture-she has directed, edited and produced spots, but now her focus will be solely on directing. "I have been doing so many different things that I wanted to go to a production company where I wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle and I could concentrate on directing," said Hammond, who had been directing through her own production company, Wooster Films, New York, where she specialized in client-direct work. Her previous directorial efforts include client-direct spots for American International Group, Travelers Group Insurance (now Citigroup) and Waste Management Services. Hammond has not decided the fate of Wooster Films, but for now she will keep it open as long as clients keep knocking on its door.
In fact, the first assignment Hammond directed through Big Picture, a four-spot, client-direct image campaign ("Garage," "Ski Trip," "Cleaning Woman" and "Cafeteria") for Kemper Insurance, came from a relationship she already had with Kemper while at Wooster. "It was a huge job, and I wanted to focus on directing it, so I brought it to Big Picture to produce it," explained Hammond, who had joined Big Picture by the time the job came through. Hammond, a self-taught Avid editor, is presently in the process of cutting the four spots, which will air nationally early this year. She also just completed directing "Pill," a New York Sports Club spot, for a freelance creative team.
