Bicoastal/ international Propaganda Films has signed director Geoffrey Barish for commercial representation.
Barish comes over after a little more than a year at The Seven Ounce Man, a satellite of Los Angeles-based Morton Jankel Zander (SHOOT, 4/23/99). There, Barish directed such spots as "So Close," "New Job," "Golf," "Bill’s Will" and "Vacation" for Salomon Smith Barney via McCann-Erickson, New York; and Ford’s "Face" via J. Walter Thompson, Detroit.
Propaganda VP of Commercials Colin Hickson described Barish, who was unavailable for comment at press time, as being "a passionate filmmaker" and "an amazing, talented problem solver."
In addition to working with Barish in the commercial realm, Propaganda is also looking forward to moving him into long-form opportunities. Hickson related Barish has written a film script and that Propaganda is in the process of working with the director on the property.
The project may benefit from Propaganda’s recent stepped-up feature activity. In May, the company hired Rushmore producer Paul Schiff from the Walt Disney Co. to oversee its film production arm and work with Propaganda talent to find feature projects, develop scripts and produce. In addition, Propaganda also recently struck up a joint development and production venture with Munich-based production and distribution house Constantin Film, which will provide financing for feature films.
Before The Seven Ounce Man, Barish worked through bicoastal HSI Productions from ’97 through early ’99; he also worked at HSI from ’93-’96. In between these two HSI tenures, he spent a year at bicoastal Straw Dogs. Barish’s first production company affiliation was with now defunct O. Pictures, followed by bicoastal/international Satellite, a sister company to Propaganda.
Initially best-known for his visual sensibilities, Barish had begun to garner more emotionally-driven, storytelling and dialogue spots in the last few years. "Watching his career has been interesting," said Hickson. "The work he’s been doing has been stunning … very strong, idea-driven pieces. For me, that’s always an exciting prospect for a signing: someone who understands an advertising idea and can execute-and at every part of the execution, embellishes the idea. That’s what Geoffrey brings to the party."
Among Barish’s directorial credits are two HSI-produced Budweiser spots, "Open Road" and "On The Road Again" for DDB Chicago, which collectively earned a Gold Lion at the ’99 Cannes International Advertising Festival. "Open Road" revolves around a Bud truck driver-in-training who fails a simulation exercise when he pulls over for a convertible full of young women. In "On The Road Again," another truck driver takes the same simulation test but doesn’t fall for the trick. However, his attention is diverted by the women long enough so that he isn’t watching the highway ahead of him. As a result, he crashes through several "road out" warning barricades, and the truck plunges off a cliff.
Barish’s most recent project, via The Seven Ounce Man, is the currently airing, aforementioned "Face" for Ford. The spot chronicles the trek of a band of mountain climbers, who arduously inch their way up a massive rock formation. They check off necessary items one by one, including the Ford Sport Explorer, which is revealed to be suspended on ropes alongside the adventurers. Visual effects were done by Sight Effects, Venice, Calif.
Barish started his career as a still photographer, working on fashion shoots for such magazines as Italian Vogue. In ’87, he segued into directing music videos for artists including Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, Chris Isaak, Lenny Kravitz and Don Henley.
Propaganda’s head of sales and West Coast rep is Dana Balkin. Chicago-based Dawn Rao covers the Midwest, and New York-based Matt Factor and Tara Ford handle East Coast sales.
