After nearly four years at bicoastal/international The End, director Peter Martinez has teamed with his long-time line producer Gary Romano to form New York-based production house Urban Myth Media. Romano will serve as the shops executive producer.
In addition to spots, music videos and longform projects, the company intends to produce Web-based content. At press time, Martinez had just wrapped his last job at The End: a spot entitled "Disney Fruit Snacks" for General Mills Fruit Peel Outs via Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.
According to the director, his exit from The End was influenced in part by recent changes there, including the departures of principals/executive producers Liz Silver and Luke Thornton, who later formed bicoastal production house Believe Media (SHOOT, 2/18). However, Martinez emphasized that his decision to leave was motivated more by The End’s sizeable directors’ roster. "Because they’d become very largeAthey needed to follow certain production models to make their markup and pay their overhead," contended Martinez.
In looking for a new roost, Martinez wanted a boutique company with a strong New York base, and he met with a number of prospective production houses. But as he considered the growing importance of new media, Martinez began to see the advantages of having his own company.
"I had a lot of ideas about how advertising is going to change over the next few years," said Martinez. "I’m not signaling the death of the 30-second spot, but I figured the opportunities coming up would be really different and I wanted to be in more of a creative, think-tank environment. I wanted to be at a place that had a lot of flexibility, that was lean enough to go after any sized job that seemed like a creative challenge and get it done within whatever constraints the client had."
Martinez also based his decision to open up shop on his close working relationship with Romano. The two have teamed on commercials which included a fair amount of location shooting. Among such projects were a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes spot via McCann-Erickson, Paris, shot in Brazil; a Chex cereal ad via Campbell Mithun Esty, Minneapolis, shot in South Africa; a Hidden Valley Ranch spot via Young & Rubicam, San Francisco, shot in New Zealand, and a Keri lotion spot via Gotham, New York, shot in Australia. "When we were out doing those jobs, we were working out of production services [companies] and hotel rooms," said Martinez. "We didn’t rely upon the kinds of things provided by a big production company, so we knew we could do this."
Additionally, he and Romano are partnered in New York-based editorial boutique Material Edit, which they launched this past January. Open to the industry, Material Edit consists of sole editor Jay Slot and concentrates mainly on spots, although Martinez said they’re beginning to branch out into new media/Internet projects. "We’re trying to come at post from a production savvy point of view [by] ensuring that different ideas are explored and that at least one best cut gets done," said Martinez, who spent eight years as an editor before becoming a director.
"Now with Urban Myth Media," he added, "we have the postproduction equipment to demo out ideas on commercials before we start shooting, or to demo out ideas for Internet content providers." Martinez said they have the ability to do MPEG-2 encoding; Material Edit is in the process of installing T1 lines, allowing material to be directly uploaded onto servers. Martinez said they also plan to purchase DVD authoring software.
Although commercials will be Urban Media’s primary business, new media will be a key focus. "The sooner you get into the game, the quicker you’ll be well-versed in it," said Martinez. "Hopefully, a year down the road, we’ll have been able to explore some new opportunities."
Martinez’s recent spot credits include "Get Around" for Road Runner, a Time-Warner co-sponsored venture which leverages cable technology to allow fast Internet access, via Grey Entertainment, New York, and the aforementioned Keri lotion spot, "Motion." He also helmed a music video, "Rhythm is My Bitch," for New York-based underground club performer Kevin Aviance. Martinez cited the latter job (which he directed independently) as an example of a money-challenged project that he wouldn’t have been able to take on while at a large production house.
An ’86 graduate of Boston-based Emerson College with a degree in film and photography, Martinez started his editing career at now defunct Video One while he was a college senior. After eight years there, he launched his directing career at September Productions, Boston, where he worked for five years before signing with The End.
Martinez said Urban Myth is currently working with Internet-based client Healthology.com to produce weekly Webcasts of "Working Well," a set of five five-minute programs which focus on office-related health issues.
Relating he also collaborated with Healthology.com on the creative for the Webcasts, Martinez added, "It was a really cool project to work on because it’s something you don’t get the chance to do under the banner of a big production company." Ultimately, Martinez would like to add one or, at the most, two directors.
Urban Myth Media is represented on the East Coast by New York-based Ann McKallagat, in the Midwest by New York-based Carolyn Hill, and in Canada by Andy Crosbie of Toronto-based Sparks. The company is in the process of finalizing West Coast representation.
