Palomar Pictures, Los Angeles, has teamed with Persaud Brothers-a youth-oriented urban marketing and promotions firm with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta-to form a joint venture production company, Persaud@ Palomar.
Palomar and Persaud Brothers each hold a 50 percent interest in the new house, which will function as a one-stop production unit and talent management center. Persaud@Palomar will have access to the film production resources at Palomar and operate out of Palomar’s Los Angeles headquarters.
Initially targeting urban market music video work, Persaud@ Palomar also plans to produce select spots, other filmed entertainment and interactive media. The company has signed directors Theodore Witcher, Jeff Byrd, Ezekiel Dickson and Jonathan Kuykindoll.
Witcher is best known as writer/director of the ’97 feature love jones. Byrd’s credits include such rap videos as Naughty By Nature’s "Jamboree" and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s "Resurrection." These clips were produced via Byrd’s former affiliation, Strange Fruit Films, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Byrd also served as director/writer/ producer of several films ranging from the ’97 short Breakdown (winner of the Best Short award at the Acapulco Black Film Festival) to the Strange Fruit-produced feature Book of Love, which Artisan Entertainment is slated to release this fall.
Until recently, Dickson worked as a DP, represented by New York-based Turley & Associates. Among his music video DP credits were Wu Tang Clan’s "Where Is Heaven," Trick Daddy’s "Nann" and Centory’s "Girl You Know It’s True" featuring the Backstreet Boys. Now making the transition to full-time director, Dickson independently helmed and produced two videos, "Give Me Love" and "Never Say Goodbye" for BMG artist Karl Henry.
Kuykindoll comes over from Pandora’s Box, a minority owned shop with bases in Chicago and Santa Monica. Kuykindoll was a principal in Pandora’s Box, an affiliate of The Story Companies, with bases in Chicago, New York, Santa Monica and Dallas. (Story Companies principal/executive producer Mark Androw said Pandora’s Box continues to represent co-directing team Cooke & Bullock, comprised of Greg Cooke and Darryl Bullock.)
Kuykindoll’s recent directorial credits include the spots "Dancer" for Coca-Cola via Burrell Communications, Chicago; "You Got It" for K-Mart via Don Coleman Advertising, Southfield, Mich.; and "Bathroom" for Lugz footwear, created on a freelance basis by Geoffrey Edwards and Colin Costello, independent of their duties as staffers-an art director and copywriter, respectively-at FCB, Chicago.
The Persaud@Palomar directors will be handled for clip work by music video rep Maha Dakhil. The directors are also available for spots through Palomar’s sales force: Los Angeles-based Holly Ross of RED on the West Coast; Los Angeles-based Jim Robison in the Midwest; and New York-based Phillip Alden of Claire Alden on the East Coast.
The management division of Persaud@Palomar will represent writers, directors and on-screen talent. It has inked a deal to manage several of Budweiser’s "Whassup Guys," consisting of Paul Williams, Fred Thomas and Scott Brooks. The trio appeared in the popular Bud spots out of DDB Chicago directed by Charles Stone III of C+C Films/ Storm Films, New York.
Palomar CEO/chairman Joni Sighvatsson related that he has always believed that urban directors have been underrepresented in the marketplace-except, possibly, for music videos. This belief intensified after he returned to the commercial industry last year upon acquiring the majority stake in Palomar, following a stint as president of independent feature film production company Lakeshore Entertainment, Hollywood (SHOOT, 6/4/99, p.1)
"I looked at reels of people that are out there," said Sighvatsson, "and there’s a tremendous amount of talent that for one reason or another, hasn’t been translated very well into other mediums. And even if they’ve gone into film, a lot of them haven’t gotten the greatest material. Although I think there’s tremendous talent out there, I don’t have the access to do with them what I’d like to do. What the Persauds have is credibility in that marketplace and industry. They have the access [to] and an understanding [of the young urban market], so I suggested a joint venture."
Sighvatsson noted that Palomar has already benefited from Persaud Brothers’ connections as evidenced by the deal with the "Whassup" guys. Persaud@Palomar is now working on a TV project deal for the "Whassup" trio. Another Persaud Brothers relationship spawned an animated short film property, Phat Heads, which has been acquired by Persaud@ Palomar and is being developed as an online project.
Said Sighvatsson, "Through their connections, they’ve brought properties to us…where they needed some creative help, because that’s not their area. Instead of us hiring people and trying to build the beast completely from the ground up, I thought, let’s just team up with them. I think that’s going to be a big benefit to Palomar. Every time we go into a meeting or whatever, [Persaud Brothers] knows the agencies, the clients. I think just having them with us gives us an instant credibility that would otherwise take us two or three years to build."
Founded in New York six years ago by siblings Mark, Michael and Irwin Persaud, Persaud Brothers specializes in developing marketing strategies and non-traditional promotions for clients targeting young, urban audiences; among their clients are Coca-Cola, Sprite, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Tanqueray and HBO.
Persaud Brothers president/ CEO Michael Persaud related, "We’re able to pool the resources of both entities [ourselves and Palomar]. For us, if we wanted to start a production unit, it would have taken a hell of a lot longer. What we lack is the credibility of somebody like Joni, along with the expertise and the knowledge that he’s had in the business. From our side, we bring a strategic understanding of branding; we know what these brand managers are looking to do with their product. Therefore, we can tailor campaigns that are very relevant [to the young, urban audience]."
According to Persaud, the Persaud Brothers shop-although it hasn’t created commercials-has worked in an advisory capacity with clients to help develop creative briefs. "Because we’ve been doing this over and over again, we thought why not start developing and shooting our own commercials," said Persaud. "For us, this is a logical next step."
Palomar’s director of new business development Sascha Penn said, "Marketing and advertising to this particular segment of the audience-which we consider to be enormously broad-[requires] a different sensibility. Persaud Brothers knows how to do that. I think that the urban/ youth market is a trendsetting market and an incredibly savvy one. They don’t respond well to advertising that talks down to them, whether you’re talking about making an ad, a movie, an album and so on."
Continued Penn, "It really is incredibly valuable for us to have that sensibility within Palomar from the standpoint of producing music videos, commercials and other sorts of filmed entertainment as well as Internet [content]."
Michael Persaud helped work on the ’93 launch of Vibe magazine which focuses on urban, youth-oriented music and culture; the experience inspired him to open his own company. "At that time, I said to myself that advertisers are going to become convinced that this is a viable audience to target," said Persaud. "And I figured that there would be a need for an agency to help them navigate through the waters, so to speak, of communicating with this audience."
For a project last year, Persaud Brothers engineered a strategic alliance between P&G and five urban clothing designers in order to help launch P&G’s at-home dry cleaning product Dryel. Targeting fashion-conscious trendsetting teens, the campaign entailed implementing clothing care labels on garments that read, "This product is Dryel-friendly," in addition to Dryel hanger tags. Said Persaud, "If you think about the best vehicles to use to talk to this audience, it’s typically music, film, fashion and sports."
Two years ago, Persaud Brothers set up a Los Angeles office in order to pursue entertainment-related business ventures for the company; Persaud Brothers still maintains this office, which is separate from Persaud@Palomar. Said Persaud, "Our intent in opening an L.A. office was due, in large part, to our interest in getting into the film arena. The way we look at marketing and communications, we have to be involved in the creation of this product that talks to this audience."
