Pam Tarr, president of commercial production house Ace Entertainment and music video shop Squeak Pictures, has consolidated the two Los Angeles entities into a hybrid spot/music clip company that will operate under the Squeak banner. The revamped Squeak has also added to its directorial roster, signing actor/ comedian Andy Dick for commercials as well as videos, and expanding its relationship with director Bobby Sheehan to exclusive national representation.
Tarr explained that she decided to "simplify" her business and to return to her industry roots by focusing on developing directors’ careers specifically in spots and videos. "Consolidation made sense from that standpoint," she said. "I had been seeking growth opportunities from companies outside our core business to further develop Squeak and Ace—looking to strike up relationships that would result in more longform and new media work for the directors. I’m still interested in that, but clearly needed to focus more on growth from within through what we do best—commercials and videos. And putting that all into one company structure was the best way to pursue that work."
In the longform arena, Tarr said that Squeak will maintain its ties to Silo, a Los Angeles venture headed by feature/TV veteran Rick Bieber. Tarr, who helped launch Silo (SHOOT, 5/7/99, p. 1), said that Squeak has scaled down its involvement with that entertainment company to a nonexclusive relationship, enabling Bieber to more easily explore other TV and feature development opportunities.
SPOT DEBUT
The aforementioned Dick is no stranger to directing, having helmed projects for MTV and VH1 as well as short films for The Rosie O’Donnell Show. At press time, he was in the midst of directing his first spot project, a campaign for the Utah Transit Authority out of Salt Lake City agency FJC&N. Dick also has a starring role in that package of comedy commercials.
Tarr added that Dick has appeared in several spots over the years, working with such notable directors as Joe Sedelmaier of Sedelmaier Film Productions, Chicago. "Andy has a great deal of commercial experience, and that brings an extra dimension to him as a director," related Tarr. "We’ve had a lot of interest in him for music videos, and I think this commercial campaign will open up that avenue for him as well."
Over the past year, director Sheehan was repped by Ace on both coasts and in the Midwest, while being handled in the Southeast and Southwest by Concrete Productions, Dallas. When Tarr informed him that she was returning to full-time involvement in developing spot and music video business, Sheehan opted to go exclusively with Squeak. Tarr added that Sheehan had originally been repped as part of a creative collective known as Grenade, an ensemble that includes editors Alex Albanese and Steve Silkensen. While Sheehan continues to maintain Grenade as a New York company, Tarr said the director is being primarily handled by Squeak individually, rather than packaged as part of Grenade. However, she related that, when appropriate, Squeak will pursue projects that team Sheehan and his Grenade colleagues.
Squeak’s roster of commercial directors includes Dick, Sheehan, Gil Bauwens, Hermann Lederle, Francisco Pugliese, Branson Veal and Leta Warner. Video helmers are Dick, Sheehan, Lawrence Carroll, Dani Jacobs, Mark Racco, Jeremy Rall, Chris Robinson, Prentice Sinclair Smith and the visual effects directing team of Nick Brooks and Laura Kelly, a.k.a. Honey. All of Squeak’s video helmers—except for Honey, which takes on ad assignments via bicoastal Johnson/Burnett’s recently launched division, Aegis (SHOOT, 2/18, p. 7)—are available for commercials.
Representing Squeak for spots are: Mary Knox and Alyson Daniels of Help! on the East Coast; Stacey Kress and Annie Bossingham of Stacey & Annie on the West Coast; and Chris Breneman of Stacey & Annie & Chris in the Midwest. Music video reps are Susan Agostinelli and Robin Frank.
Tarr remains executive producer of commercials at Squeak, with Agostinelli and Rosanne Cunningham serving as executive producers for videos.
Recent Squeak projects include a Lederle-helmed VoiceStream Cellular campaign starring Jamie Lee Curtis for Publicis, Seattle; Veal-directed campaigns for Suzuki and Southern Company out of Colby Effler & Partners, Santa Monica, and SS+K, New York, respectively; continuing work for The Partnership for a Drug-Free America directed by Sheehan; and a Harrah’s campaign for Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis, which marks the U.S. spot debut for European director Bauwens.
