Director Laurent Chanez has become available for U.S. spots through bicoastal Naked Project. Although Chanez, along with director Pierluca De Carlo and executive producer Joe Masi, co-founded Naked Project, (SHOOT 3/10, p. 7), until now Chanez was not on the production house’s directorial roster.
Chanez, who lives in Paris but plans to move to New York in early 2001, is repped in Europe by Paris-based Entropie. There, he directed Kenzo’s "Flower by Kenzo" via DDB, Paris, and the Association des Paralyses de France’s "Le Foot" via Air, also Paris. Chanez’s stylish ads turn a surreal eye on private moments: In the first spot, a woman floats through a room full of suspended poppies, and in the second, a wheelchair-bound soccer player’s moves have a dreamy elegance. Other credits include the five-minute film Urban Natives, which Chanez co-directed with De Carlo.
Chanez, trained as a graphic designer, graduated from Paris’ école supérieur d’art graphique in ’92, where he studied everything from typography to illustration to photography. By ’93 he and some friends had opened design firm l’homme de tête. The shop was disbanded in ’95, and though Chanez worked as a freelance designer, "I really wanted to direct," he told SHOOT. He got his chance in ’96, when he met De Carlo.
As Chanez recalled, "Luca was shooting a commercial in Mexico for a French production. I knew the producer, who asked me if I wanted to do some graphics for the commercial. They sent my portfolio to Luca. When he came back from Mexico, we met, and, eh, voilà! I did the graphic design. Then he [De Carlo] told me that he wanted to work with me again."
De Carlo was impressed by Chanez’s background and, said Chanez, "Six months later he called and said, ‘I have a big job, and it would be a great opportunity for you if you want to come to L.A. and work for 15 days.’ " This was for The New York Times’ "Expect the World" campaign via Bozell, New York, for which Chanez did the graphic design. Chanez laughed, "I came to L.A. for 15 days, and I ended up staying for two months!"
Chanez started directing full-time about two and a half years ago, and joined Entropie a year later. While Chanez looks forward to working in America, he has no particular prerequisites: "For me, right now, it’s about the concept, and having enough freedom to make a nice commercial." However, he admits, "I would like to do a car commercial."
His colleagues approve of Chanez’s cautious approach to the U.S. market. De Carlo commented, "Starting in the American market is a difficult thing, but as a director Laurent has a vision, which can be applied to any kind of job. He has an extremely contemporary feel. There’s a lot of narrative and romance. … I think his goal would be to do storytelling with beautiful, clean visuals."
De Carlo added that, although Chanez "has been ready for a while, I think he did very, very well to wait [until now to launch his career here]."
Masi agreed: "Laurent did the right thing by staying in France, working on his reel and building it until he felt he had only the best work, so he could come here to this market and go after the work here."
At press time, Naked Project was seeking new representation.
