Director Ben Younger has signed with Thru-Line, a bicoastal shop which represents feature filmmakers for commercial work. Thru-Line is a division of bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures.
Younger-who directed Boiler Room, a New Line motion picture released earlier this year-has never helmed spots before. But he’s no stranger to the medium, having been in the production trenches. From ’94 to ’98, Younger was a grip for music videos and commercials. He worked on spots for such advertisers as Parker Brothers Games and The New York Times. "I had more exposure to the commercial world than I did to the feature world," related Younger.
His technical background has proved beneficial: "Being able to walk onto a set, and knowing how to build every crane, how to use every piece of equipment-it’s a huge advantage." Furthermore, his experience includes a stint as a cinematographer: under the tutelage of DP Steve Harris, "The last two years of gripping, I did a lot of camera operation for industrials."
Younger never planned to direct. He studied political science and philosophy at Queens College, graduating in ’95. After managing a winning campaign for a State Assembly candidate, a disillusioned Younger decided to write screenplays instead: "I quit my job and learned to be a grip. I worked for free for awhile; then I made my living doing that for four years as I wrote the screenplay for Boiler Room."
Younger’s big break came about in fairy tale fashion. In the winter of ’98, he waited tables, and one of his customers was writer Steve Kerper (creator of comedy series Hardcore TV for HBO). Younger recalled, "He and I talked, and at the end of his lunch he asked me if I had something he could show his agent. So eight months later, I sent the agent the script and boom! Next thing, I’m making a movie."
Current projects include treatments for some music videos (which he would also make through Thru-Line) and a one-hour series about a high school football team in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. He’s sold the pitch to ABC, and the as yet untitled drama may be a midseason replacement. Younger is also writing his next feature, a romantic comedy called Prime.
When Younger expressed interest in directing spots, his music video rep, Randi Wilens of RW Media, Los Angeles, began organizing meetings with production companies. Something of a feeding frenzy ensued: "There were a lot of companies we were talking to. Between the hype of the movie and Randi talking about me to different companies, there was a lot of interest," Younger admitted. Chelsea Pictures’ president Steve Wax agreed: "I’d seen Boiler Room at Sundance. Then Jeanine (Pepler, head of Thru-Line) ran into his music video rep and we decided to pursue it. It became rather competitive with other companies, but we finally landed him."
According to the director, Thru-Line’s boutique size was a major attraction. Younger explained that its smaller, manageable directorial roster was welcomed as compared to the unwieldy lineups of other shops. He reasoned that his spot career would gain more attention with fewer directors to look after.
This corresponds with Thru-Line’s philosophy, said Wax: "What we’re trying to do is keep it very small and very independent." Pepler pointed out, "Part of what we’re doing is catering to people who haven’t done commercials before. Steve has a reputation for nurturing people into commercials, from features or other media."
Thru-Line’s other directors include The Haxans (Robin Cowie, Eduardo Sanchez, Daniel Myrick, Gregg Hale and Michael Monello) and Todd Solondz. Chelsea Pictures’ directors include Nicholas Barker, Simon Blake, Janusz Kaminski, Mehdi Norowzian, Alex Proyas, Steve Rogers, Pete Salmi and Andrew Walton.
On the East Coast, Chelsea and Thru-Line are repped by Lisa Mehling and Beth Davenport in New York, and Robin Hauck in Boston. Marguerite Juliusson and Dawn Ratcliffe of Juliusson Ratcliffe, Chicago, cover the Midwest. And San Francisco-based Mary Vandamme handles the West Coast.
