Director Bob Balaban has signed with Half Baked Productions, New York.
Although Balaban has not helmed any spots, he is an experienced episodic television and feature director whose credits include the 1989 film Parents, with Randy Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt, and The Last Good Time, which won the best film award at the Hamptons International Film Festival, East Hampton, N.Y., in ’94. Other credits include The Wedding Toast (’99), a short film for the cable network Showtime; the Strangers with Candy episode called "Jeri Is Only Skin Deep," for Comedy Central; and Oz’s "Great Men" episode for HBO.
Though he signed with Half Baked just a few weeks ago, Balaban has been interested in helming spots for some time. As he pointed out, "Actually, when I made The Wedding Toast, I said to myself, ‘What a great opportunity to do something that would look good on my reel when I do commercials.’ "
Balaban is also an actor who has appeared in dozens of films, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind (’77), Waiting for Guffman (’96) and the upcoming Julia Roberts movie The Mexican. Balaban is also known as Elaine’s would-be suitor, television executive Russell Dalrymple, on Seinfeld.
Balaban’s family has been in the industry for years: His uncle was president of Paramount movie studio, while his grandfather was head of production at MGM. Balaban’s acting career began when the Chicago native was just 17. He studied English and sociology at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., before transferring to New York University in ’65. At N.Y.U., Balaban pursued his degree when he wasn’t performing on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, or acting in films like Catch-22.
Balaban developed an interest in directing while acting in the ’81 movie Prince of the City. He told SHOOT, "I asked [director] Sidney Lumet if I could observe him. … I said to Sidney, ‘You make it look so effortless, yet everything is planned and prepared. How do you do that?’ " Lumet was agreeable, so during the making of his Deathtrap (’82), Balaban "hung around him for around four months—I sat in on the meetings, wrote down every shot, asked about the lenses he used … I sat with him in the cutting room. He was very generous."
Balaban’s education paid off: The following year he directed and produced SPFX: 11:40, a short film that was shown at the New Directors/New Films Festival at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in ’83. Then in ’84, Balaban directed an episode of Tales from the Darkside, and since then has helmed episodes of series ranging from Amazing Stories (’85) to Eerie, Indiana (’91) to Oz (’97) and NBC’s recent Deadline (’00).
Currently Balaban is directing episodes of the fall ’01 series Dead Last, a one-hour comedy/ drama for the WB, and an as-yet-untitled NBC show from Glenn Gordon Caron, of Moonlighting fame. Balaban is also about to produce Robert Altman’s new film, Gosford Park. Furthermore, "I’ve just created a new cartoon series called Very Lost in Space. It’s sort of like Waiting for Guffman as a cartoon. It’s quite funny: dry and strange."
Balaban was first contacted by Half Baked executive produ-cer Elyse Roth about two months ago, when The Martin Agency, in Richmond, Va., put out a call for directors who had worked on Strangers with Candy. Roth and Balaban had friends in common, as Roth had been the executive producer of The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn, which, like Strangers with Candy, also ran on Comedy Central. As Balaban recalled, "I sent her my reel and said, ‘I’ve never done this before, but I’ve always wanted to direct commercials. I’d love to work in this format; I love working with actors, and I have some access to some interesting actors who are off the beaten pathfl there probably would be a little niche for me somewhere.’ " Though the Martin Agency project was shelved, Balaban and Roth decided to work together.
Despite his busy schedule, Balaban is eager to get started in the spot world: "Whatever I’m doing at the moment keeps me completely occupied," he reported. Though being a full-time actor and director—not to mention producer and co-creator of cartoons—might be difficult for some people, Balaban remains unfazed by his schedule. As he explained, "I get up early."
Half Baked Productions also represents directors Nina Davenport and George Verschoor.
Executive producer Roth currently reps Half Baked’s directors.
