Director Branson Veal, formerly of now-defunct Harmony Pictures, has joined cYclops productions, New York, for exclusive spot representation. Veal has already helmed his first work through cYclops: a pair of Cobra Golf :30s, Jellyfish and Plaidman, for Foote, Cone & Belding, San Francisco.
The commercials-which will run in the U.S., Europe, and Australia-have a humorous storyline showing the remarkable capacities of golfers who use Cobra Golf products juxtaposed against less serious practitioners. The spots will break later this year, the exact time depending on the availability of voiceover talent which the agency is trying to secure. Foote, Cones team included associate creative director/copywriter Bob Dorfman, associate creative director/art director John Carter and producer Tom Wright. The package was shot by cinematographer Jim Fealy.
I go after elements of the human body that I try to explore in an athletic situation, Veal said about the recently wrapped work, which was shot on a golf course near Floridas West Palm Beach. We took it so far beyond just the sports and into some bold storytelling and performances. Its almost not a sports spot at all.
Veal left Harmony in July 1998 before the company folded because he was tired of being at a big machine production company and felt Harmony was not pursuing the work he wanted to do. Everything they had talked about happening never happened, he said. Though Veal had actually re-signed with the company last year, he and Harmony later mutually agreed to part ways.
After his departure from Harmony, the director completed Focus, a Phoenix Suns spot for agency SRO Communications, Phoenix, via Los Angeles-based Ace Entertainment. Veal said he considered signing with Ace after that project but ultimately decided not to do so. Veal made contact with cYclops through Ron Blair, who reps the company on the West Coast via Ron Blair Represents.
Veal said that one of the major reasons he was attracted to cYclops was the opportunity to work with director Albert Watson. The inspiration and the support that Albert can give into projects makes all the difference, he said. Just being in the proximity of both Mikes [executive producer/head of production Michael Quinn and executive producer/ president Mike Jurkovac] and Albert has raised my bar. Veal also expressed pleasure with the level of work he now sees as well as the support he receives from cYclops in the bidding process. Practically every board I get now is better than any board Ive ever seen, he said.
Quinn, executive producer at cYclops, said that Veals style was a complement to the work done by Watson and other cYclops directors. What we saw in Bransons reel was a graphic sensibility that he then was able to amplify, cultivate and apply to the first job that he did with us, he said. This is an environment in which Branson can really grow, by virtue of the type of projects were able to get for him and the way theyre produced. Quinn said that cYclops was currently bidding Veal on some European spots for an internationally known beer. The assignment would involve technically intricate shots that segue through indoor and outdoor settings.
On the technical side, Veal has a propensity for building camera rigs which he uses to achieve what he describes as how-did-you-do-that type of cinematography? In the past, Veal built a camera slingshot stretching over a hundred yards using marine sailing parts and other items that enabled the camera to assume the rapid-velocity perspective of a ball launched by a soccer player. The director has a shop in his New York loft where he experiments with and builds the camera rigs he uses. The challenge is now incorporating these types of radical cinematography very artistically, he said.
Veal also brings agency experience to the table. In fact, Veal began directing select projects while serving as VP/senior producer at McCann-Erickson, Seattle, before jumping over to the production house side of the business in 1996 when he joined Harmony.
