Actor/director Christopher Reeve has signed with TAG Pictures, New York, for representation as a spot helmer.
While freelancing last year, Reeve directed "Randy Newman," "Ray Romano" and "Christopher Reeve" for Johnson & Johnson’s image campaign via McCann-Erickson, New York. He was nominated for an Emmy for his ’97 directorial debut, the HBO film In The Gloaming.
Reeve hadn’t considered joining a commercial production house until Brian Dubin, who is head of William Morris’ commercial department in New York, suggested it. TAG’s executive producer Jim Golden also recalled, "I was up visiting Peter Friedman, head of production at McCann-Erickson. He said, AI want to show you something we just did.’ This was Chris’ reel; I was amazed. Peter hooked me up with his folks back in December." Golden marveled, "I saw that this classically trained actor understands the idiom of commercial filmmaking. Chris has an innate understanding of what makes commercial storytelling work."
Reeve will focus on health care issues, and sees himself as an advocate as much as a director. Reeve’s experience as a patient following the ’95 accident that left him paralyzed has galvanized his commitment to medical issues. Though it may seem incongruous, he plans to work with big-name companies, the sort that the public often distrusts.
Reeve commented, "I’ve seen firsthand that there’s a lot of fear and distrust by the public in terms of corporations. And they [corporations] can rehabilitate their image." He added, "It can’t be built on lies; they have to realize the profit potential in serving the customer properly. There are messages we can get across about how the corporate world should behave in the twenty-first century."
He cited "Advances" for Nuveen Investments via Fallon McElligott, Minneapolis, which depicted him walking. (The spot was directed by Andrew Douglas, then of bicoastal Satellite, who has since joined bicoastal Anonymous.) "That’s the kind of commercial I’m interested in-where you convince the client that they will really do better if they really provide a good service for people," related Reeve. "It’s what I call ethical free enterprise, where everybody benefits."
Underscoring his passion for health care issues, Reeves served as spokesman for Health Extras, which provides supplemental insurance. He outlined the program and declared, "Everybody can afford $10 a month, so [the company] will come out ahead by volume, and yet they’ll be able to deliver. I think it’s really a wonderful system." Reeve is proud of the impact made by the Health Extras spots, which were directed by Susan Froemke of Maysles Films, New York, for Focused Image, Alexandria, Va. "Since I did the commercials, subscriptions are up three hundred percent," said Reeve. "As a director, I’d like to work in a similar area, to help with related products." For Reeve, this is the crux of the issue: "Without advertising, people wouldn’t have heard of Health Extras."
Reeve has been interested in directing since his tenure as the Man of Steel. Reeve recalled his film education on the set: "We shot part of the second Superman film at the same time [as the first]-I was at the studio from January of ’77 through October of ’78. I had a golf cart, and I drove around all the different sets, and basically bothered everybody and sat behind the editor, and went over to the special effects department and the model units. … It really was like a little film school."
He added, "Fred Zollo, who was the executive producer of In The Gloaming, said, AIt’s too bad that a devastating accident forced you to do something you should have been doing all along, which is to direct.’" Reeve offered, "I’m very, very lucky because I’ve just been able to shift gears and still been able to stay in the business I love, where so many people lose their livelihood and are just dependent on insurance or court settlements."
His directorial style is relaxed. "Basically, for the Johnson & Johnson commercials I just played around. For example, with Ray Romano-he’s a comedian but actually he got a little serious as we were rehearsing, and his spot was about laughter! So what I did was have him sit on a barstool and just spin around laughing for some of the shots, which we cut in with his narrative-and suddenly the whole thing came alive. And Randy Newman-when he plays, he’s almost always looking down at his hands. And I needed him to goof around. I just kept pushing him to be more playful, and if you see the spot, I think we got it."
Reeve is currently preparing to direct the feature film Heartbreaker. It was attached to Lion’s Gate Films, London, but a recent studio reshuffle has left the project temporarily without a home. Reeve said that he and producer/actor Nicolas Cage are hoping to find a domestic studio within the next few weeks. "We may have failed upwards," Reeve laughed.
TAG’s other recent addition is director/DP Gordon Willis Jr. Willis just finished "Medical Specialists" for Advocate Health Care through Coil Counts Ford & Cheney, Chicago.
Until earlier this year, Willis was at bicoastal/international Atherton (which was recently renamed Cylo), where he directed "He," "She," "You" and "Usted" for the American Cancer Society via T.G. Madison, Atlanta; "Tiger" for Friskies Cat Food via McCann-Erickson, Los Angeles; McDonald’s "McDonald’s Taiwan" and State Farm’s "Babe," both via DDB Chicago. At press time, Willis was about to embark on some more Friskies spots.
TAG’s roster also consists of director David Rosen, as well as directors/DPs Jack Churchill and Beth Galton. TAG’s New York-based Dogtag Films division, under the aegis of executive producer Kendra Gelner, includes director Vince Aamodt.
