Bicoastal production company hungry man has signed director Martin Canellakis for commercial representation.
Since ’98, Canellakis has worked through bicoastal Coppos Films. Up until late ’99, he was partnered with director Brian Aldrich in the co-directing team Marty + Brian. The two had spent the last year preparing to launch solo directing careers and formally split in December (SHOOT, 12/3/99, p.1). Aldrich continues to direct spots through Coppos.
At press time, Canellakis was preparing to fly to Toronto to helm his last Coppos project: a spot for a local donut chain. The job is being produced by Toronto-based Radke Films, which has a working relationship with the Coppos studio.
Before focusing his attention on directing three years ago, Canellakis worked as an agency creative. He and Aldrich met 15 years ago at Boston-based Clarke Goward Fitts (now Clarke Goward Advertising), where Canellakis was a copywriter. He went on to hold staff positions as a senior copywriter at Deutsch, New York; a writer at Chiat/Day, New York (now TBWA Chiat/Day); and a creative director at McCann-Erickson, New York.
From ’93 until ’98, Canellakis served as a freelance agency creative at such shops as Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco, where he worked on Sprint, and DDB Los Angeles, where his credits included Wells Fargo and the Los Angeles Times. Other freelance stints included those at Bates, New York, McCann-Erickson, Tokyo, and the former Santa Monica office of Chicago-headquartered The Leap Partnership.
According to hungry man executive producer Stephen Orent, Canellakis has been a friend of the family, referring to the director’s longtime association with hungry man partners/ directors Hank Perlman and Bryan Buckley, both of whom also have agency creative backgrounds.
"Since we started the company, [Canellakis] was always interested in what we were doing," said Orent. "We were aware of what he was doing, and we stayed in contact. When he made the split with his partner, we got really interested. He’s a perfect fit for us. He’s a really talented creative/writer, and he gets it. He’s got the fire in the belly; he works hard at the whole process, from the phone call to putting it all together. We think we’re going to do great things with Marty."
Given that Buckley and Perlman are now involved in the company’s feature film and television programming development ventures—hungry man film and hungry man TV—Canellakis could benefit in terms of spot opportunities, said Orent. "The whole idea of the company is that everybody would go back and forth between commercials and longform, so that creates a lot of [opportunities]. It’s not easy to fill Bryan Buckley’s shoes, but hopefully everybody in the company can kind of step up."
Canellakis said he and Perlman are longtime friends, dating back to their days at Deutsch together; he has also known Buckley since he freelanced at New York-based Frankfurt Gips Balkind (now Frankfurt Balkind Partners), where Buckley was briefly a principal.
Leaving Coppos after he became a solo director was never the plan for Canellakis. "Coppos was a terrific place for me," he said. "There was very little that could have lured me away, aside from a chance to work with these guys, like my old friend, Hank. We like and respect each other as individuals, and this is just an opportunity you can’t refuse."
In addition, said Canellakis, his affinity for the shop is also due to his respect for Orent and West Coast executive producer Dan Duffy, as well as its "cool vibe." Noting that it doesn’t feel like a glitzy production company, he observed that hungry man offers big talent without big egos. He added that hungry man’s well-established New York base should afford him the opportunity to increase his presence in that market.
Among Canellakis’ recent solo directing projects are two Fox Sports spots, "Mermaid" and "Big Bass" via Cliff Freeman & Partners, New York. He also helmed two spots for More.com, an online drugstore/ cosmetics/toys retailer, via Citron Haligman Bedecarré, San Francisco, and a spot for Major League Baseball via Vigilante, the New York-based urban advertising/marketing subsidiary of Chicago-headquartered Leo Burnett Co.
Although his directorial fare has been in the comedy realm, Canellakis said he sees himself as a storyteller first and foremost, and noted that his humorous spots have a distinctly "visual bent."
Orent agreed, and said that the fact that Canellakis was an adept filmmaker was another reason they were drawn to his reel. "Creatively, he can bring a lot to the table," said Orent. "I think Marty pushed himself hard to be a filmmaker; you can see it in his reel and his film, which is very cinematic. That really helped us [decide to sign him] as well."
Out of a roster of 12 directors, Canellakis is now one of four who is based in California, which was "a big sell" for the company, said Orent, who related that they are trying to grow the Santa Monica office. The shop’s other West Coast directors are Young Kim, David Shane and Paul Norling (who is also an editor with FilmCore, Santa Monica).
The hungry man roster is rounded out by John O’Hagan, David Levin, Bennett Miller, Lara Shapiro, Mark Foster and Marc Klasfeld. The company is repped by Chris Messiter, Barrie Isaacson and Ann McKallagat on the East Coast, Kitty Monaghan and Kelly Halpine in the Midwest and by Raquel Muñoz-Flores on the West Coast.
