After working in the production department at Leo Burnett Co., London, for 13 yearsathe last three as the agency’s head of television productionaJonathan Davis was ready for a new challenge.
He found it after Leo Burnett Co., Chicago, invited him to join its office as executive producer/head of television production. The position had opened up as a result of the retirement of David Beller, who had been with shop for 27 years, most recently as senior VP/director of TV services. It was an opportunity the lifelong U.K. resident deemed too good to pass up. Now, a little over a month into his new tenure, Davis is acclimating himself to Leo Burnett’s much larger Windy City operation, as well as his new role.
Part of his task involves learning about his new hometown’s production and postproduction resources. To that end, he has visited several local post houses, including Chicago-based Edit Sweet and Optimus, and has scheduled appointments with other leading vendors. Additionally, he has previously worked with Red Car, Chicago (the company also has offices in New York, Santa Monica, San Francisco and Dallas), which cut spots such as "Lip Tattoo" and "Sun and Sand" for Max Factor out of Leo Burnett’s London office. Davis is also familiar with director John Komnenich of Komnenich Films, Chicago, who directed a number of Max Factor spots during Davis’ stay at the London office.
At this point, though, Davis says, he is not yet qualified to judge the Chicago market’s capabilities. "Obviously, in time, I might have an opinion," explains Davis. "I’d say a lot of post is done here in Chicago for Leo Burnett. They all go and shoot in Los Angeles or wherever, but they tend to post here. On certain jobs, if it’s felt the talent isn’t right here, then we’ll go farther afield. I’m not just going to do it here just for the sake of doing it here."
While several post houses have offered to screen their company showreels for him, Davis relates that he is not interested. Rather, he would prefer to see the reels of individual operators. "That’s what gets me about post houses," says Davis. "They always do a compilation reel. And it’s like, I’m not interested in you as a company; I’m interested in the creative talent that’s within your company. It’s very good getting a good director, but you’ve [also] got to think of the right editor for the job, the right colorist, online editor, audio mixer. In the past, I’ve [sometimes] gone to maybe three different post houses to complete one job. I want to know who the good people are in each area."
Observing that he has rarely used the same director twice, Davis says that in his short time in Chicago, he is already discovering new talent he had been unaware of. For example, one such find is director Tom Routson of bicoastal Tool of North America, whose reel was given to him by a Leo Burnett producer. And Davis, who has not yet produced or overseen any Leo Burnett, Chicago work, says he is not averse to taking a risk with an unproven director.
"With an incredible script, we’d mostly go with the A-list directors from your own territory," says Davis of his work in the London office. "Because you know that with a gem of an idea, a production company will always make it work within the budget. But with the more straightforward advertising, you’re willing to take a risk on a director. Something I want to start doing here is talking to a lot more to my counterparts in offices around the [Leo Burnett] network, asking them to send me who they consider to be the top ten directors in their market."
At Leo Burnett’s London office, Davis worked with a variety of directors on spots for clients such as McDonald’s, Max Factor, and Kellogg’s. Such McDonald’s image spots included "Brotherly Love" directed by Kirk Jones of Tomboy Films, London, in which a little boy buys his unhappy sister a Happy Meal. Others spots for McDonald’s that were produced through London-based companies include "Shearer" directed by Chris Palmer of Gorgeous; "Children and Animals" helmed by Jeff Stark of Stark Films (Stark is repped in the U.S. by bicoastal Manifesto); "Good Audition" helmed by Patricia Murphy of Patricia Murphy Films (Murphy is represented in the U.S. by Bravo Zulu, Santa Monica); "Clever Daddy" directed by Simon Cheek of Spirit Films; and an ongoing series of spots in McDonald’s "Money Saving Tips" campaign helmed by Joe Publicaa.k.a. Adam Cameron and Simon Coleathrough Partizan Midi Minuit. (Joe Public is handled stateside by bicoastal Headquarters).
