Director Rick LeMoine, formerly of bicoastal/international @radical.media, has joined Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles. Also coming aboard Biscuit is executive producer Eric Stern, who was most recently with Furlined, the Hollywood shop which succeeded Omaha Pictures, where he spent the past three-plus years.
LeMoine made his first directorial mark as half of the team LeMoine/Miller with helmer Steve Miller who continues with @radical. The LeMoine/Miller duo turned out such lauded work as Computer Associates’ “Amnesia,” a comedy spot which earned assorted honors, including a primetime spot Emmy nomination in 2002. Messrs. LeMoine and Miller decided to pursue individual directing careers a couple of years ago, each successfully going solo at @radical.
Among LeMoine’s latest credits are spots for Mountain Dew via BBDO New York, and State Farm for DDB Chicago. At press time, he was wrapping his last scheduled @radical job, a U.S. Bank campaign for The Kaplan Thaler Group, New York.
Up until now, @radical was LeMoine’s sole career production house roost. He and Miller joined there in 1997, making the transition from agency creative team to directors. LeMoine described @radical as a terrific house, but he just felt it was time to make a change, saying he was drawn to Biscuit for its high caliber work, his admiration for such directors as Noam Murro and Tim Godsall, the chance to work with exec producers Shawn Lacy Tessaro and Stern, and the opportunity to possibly diversify into longform. On the latter score, LeMoine noted that Murro is taking on the feature Strangers on a Train, the remake of the Hitchcock classic, and that Biscuit is open to helping uncover and to accommodate suitable feature projects for its directors.
On the ad front, LeMoine added that he hopes to continue his international work, which had been cultivated at @radical, including spots for Volkswagen out of agency Grabarz & Partners, Hamburg. The director related that Biscuit too has a track record for garnering foreign fare, alluding to Murro’s recent spotwork for European clients.
Known best for people-based comedy, as well as an affinity for the slightly absurd, LeMoine said the overriding factor for him when taking on a job is it have “a smart idea…It doesn’t always have to be funny.”
LeMoine first established himself as an agency creative. He and Miller worked as copywriter and art director, respectively, first at Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York. Miller then went to TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York, and LeMoine to what was then Ammirati & Puris, but the duo later reunited as a freelance team. The twosome then landed the chance to create and direct a package of ESPN promos, which put them on the map as directors, leading to the affiliation with @radical.
LeMoine joins a Biscuit directorial roster that consists of Murro, Godsall, Steve Rogers, Jeffrey Fleisig, Mike Bigelow and Russ Lamoureux. The shop also handles U.S. representation for helmers from Reginald Pike, Toronto: The Perlorian Brothers, Mark Gilbbert and Yael Staav.
Stern formerly served as executive producer at Omaha Pictures and then Furlined. Prior to that he had extensive line producing experience and had served as a creative exec at 20th Century Fox.
Biscuit’s domestic sales force consists of independent reps Peter Ziegler of Ziegler Management Group on the East Coast, Gay Guthrey of Gay Guthrey & Associates in the Midwest, and Dana Balkin and Raquel Munoz-Flores of Resource/LA on the West Coast.
