The comedy directing team of Spooner/French—Nick and Andrew, respectively—has signed with bicoastal/international The Artists Company for commercial representation. The duo will be repped by The Artists Company stateside, while maintaining representation in Canada via Imported Artists Film Company, Toronto. Spooner/French comes over from now defunct Shooting Gallery Productions (SGP), the commercial division of feature film firm The Shooting Gallery, New York. SGP closed this past summer (SHOOT, 7/6, p. 1).
After SGP shuttered, Spooner/French met with several production houses before signing with The Artists Company. "The reps [at the company] were probably one of the biggest reasons why we went there," noted French. "When you sign with someplace, you have to look at what affects you as directors, so you eliminate some [houses] just by virtue of how many people are on the roster, where they are located. But I think for us it was important to find people who are super-enthusiastic about working with us.
Another selling point for the two, said Spooner, was the stability of their new roost’s roster. "We do consider ourselves old-fashioned to a degree," he related. "And The Artists Company—they have loyalty, longevity. How many places are there where people have been working for ten years? That’s not a lot of places. It has a small roster, and I think they have heart, which I don’t think a lot of places have."
The duo also enjoys the fact that The Artists Company focuses primarily on commercials, and does not have several divisions devoted to other mediums. "They are not bogged down with secondary and tertiary [divisions]," said Spooner. "We went through an extensive process of talking to many production companies, and if we didn’t understand with whom we would be signing, the meeting was really over."
"With these guys it was super clear," French continued. "They do commercials, and that’s what we do. I mean, it sounds funny, but you would be surprised at how few people at other production companies actually said that [they do spots]. Nick and I are still fully into commercials."
Spooner and French collaborate on a 50/50 basis on shoots. "To some degree, every task is a collaboration," noted Spooner. "There are things that each of us is a little more comfortable with, and just to eliminate the confusion we focus on [them] a little more. Andy works closely with the talent, and I’ll work closely with the camera on the set. But as a team, with a background in writing, a lot of what we do is a fifty-fifty collaboration behind the scenes, and that kind of organization breeds a lot more room for spontaneity on the set."
The pair is noted for performance-driven spots that touch on human reality. "It’s the unknown human element, which is why casting is so important," says French of their style. "It’s not locking yourself into what a spot has to be—because, really, the human element should never be underestimated. Nor should what can be created at the last second be underestimated. That doesn’t mean we don’t cover what is needed. We go in with a very specific idea of how we are going to do [a spot], but then because the ideas are so specific, we can take more time in each set-up to get more."
The team recently completed several spots produced through Imported Artists. Among its recent projects are Breton Crackers’ "Lovers," out of agency Zig, Toronto; an IKEA spot called "Sven" via Roche Macaulay & Partners, Toronto; and a two-spot package for online dating service Lavalife.com, also out of Zig.
Comedy Roots
Spooner and French began working together in 1994 at Comedy Central, where they wrote and directed numerous network promos. After leaving the cable network, they directed spots on a freelance basis, then signed with bicoastal/international Satellite in ’98. An ad they directed for the Seattle-based Museum of Flight, "Simulator," which was done through Satellite, out of Cole & Weber (now Cole & Weber/Red Cell), Seattle, garnered Spooner and French a place on the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase at the 2000 Cannes International Advertising Festival. A client-direct promo for NBC’s since cancelled The Mike O’Malley Show, which Spooner and French helmed as freelancers, rounded out their entry in the Showcase. In the fall of ’99, they signed with SGP. While with that firm, the pair helmed a number of well-received spots, including Homewarehouse.com’s "Getting Started," out of Butler, Shine & Stern, Sausalito, Calif.
Roberto Cecchini, president of The Artists Company, believes the variety in Spooner/French’s reel makes the team a good fit with the company. "Comedy requires, prior to the execution phase, an understanding of the concept and being faithful to the idea, but enriching it deeply. Spooner and French’s background prepared them for the process [that takes place] before the job is awarded—whether it be [working on] treatments, thinking the job through, or having a lot of ideas that add to the job," he noted. "That ability is extremely necessary. I felt that Nick and Andy, with their background of writing and developing promos at Comedy Central, had that kind of creative background. They have an incredibly wide range of executions on their reel. They use a variety of techniques and applications that are suitable to a project, and they are able to find a style that works for the project, as well as for their sense of comedy."
Cecchini also noted that Spooner/French’s style is unique to The Artists Company roster. "There is no overlap in their comedic sensibility [with our other directors]," he told SHOOT. "… It’s a perfect fit, and their work applies to a wide [range] because their real drive is to have the advertising work because it’s funny." Spooner/ French joins a roster comprising David Cameron, Michael Cuesta, Skip D’Amico, David Frankham, Bill Hudson, Gregory Maya, David Ramser and Joakim Sandstrom. The Artists Company is represented on the East Coast by Denise Blate and Mary Eiff; in the Midwest by Donna D’aguanno and Lily Stefanski of Donna D’aguanno & Associates, Chicago; and on the West Coast by Linda Novak.
