Chelsea Pictures, a commercial production company with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Sydney, Australia, has formed a music video/commercial satellite, the Production League of Amer-ica (PLA).
Heading PLA will be music video and commercial executive producer Jo Ann Thrailkill. She comes over from X-Ray Productions, the music video/commercial satellite of bicoastal Crossroads (which also has an office in Chicago), where she has held the post of executive producer for music videos since 1997. The first two directors to be represented by the company are X-Ray Productions alumni Evan Bernard and David Nelson. PLA anticipates growing to represent about five directors.
Headquartered in the Los Angeles office of Chelsea Pictures, PLA is Chelsea Pictures’ third satellite: Late last year Chelsea Pictures entered into an Internet advertising venture with Brooklyn-based JibJab Media to form an online marketing shop called ChelseaID (SHOOT, 11/3/00, p.1). The other satellite is Thru-Line, which handles spot representation for feature filmmakers. Currently signed with Thru-Line are Todd Solondz, director of Happiness; The Haxans, who directed The Blair Witch Project; and Ben Younger, writer/director of Boiler Room.
Steve Wax, president, Chelsea Pictures, said the decision to start PLA was inspired by the work of directors Bernard and Nelson as executive-produced by Thrailkill. "They are very special in terms of their creative approach to commercials and music videos. I thought it would be cool to add them as a satellite so they could maintain a distinct flavor of their own," he enthused.
"PLA is based on Jo Anne, who really is a phenomenal producer," continued Wax. "There is a kind of corrosive humor in Evan’s work—he is a master of the science of [the Chelsea trademark] ‘narratology.’ " Wax added, "I recently saw some spots that David Nelson directed and co-wrote with John Leguizamo for the New York Magazine Awards. They were extraordinarily funny and, I think, indicate a first new direction for David."
Getting Back in
Another incentive for Chelsea Pictures in starting PLA was the chance to re-enter the music video arena. The company shuttered Chelsea Music Videos in ’96. "There was a period when it was really rough in the music video business in terms of budgets and general chaos, so we dropped the whole thing," recounted Wax. But despite the economic difficulties, Wax sees music video production as an important creative laboratory and training ground for directors. PLA is also expected to be a drawing card for other Chelsea directors, many of whom have said that they would occasionally like to direct music videos.
Thrailkill and Bernard first teamed up at the now defunct O.Pictures, where Bernard was represented for commercials and music videos. Thrailkill played a number of roles during her four-and-a-half-year stay at O.Pictures, starting as an assistant in the TV commercial division and working her way up to executive producer/head of the music video division.
Commenting on the decision to link with Chelsea Pictures, Thrailkill said that she had worked very closely with Bernard for the past five and a half years and they had decided to stay together as a director/executive producer team. Bernard was interested in expanding his career as a commercial director while continuing to direct music videos. They decided to start their own company, but wanted the backing and sales support of an established commercial house. One of the people they contacted was a long-term friend of Thrailkill—Allison Amon, an executive producer at Chelsea Pictures, who called them in for a meeting. Convinced that Chelsea Pictures could provide them with the support they needed while allowing them the autonomy to create their own culture, a deal was negotiated. Also interested in launching his career as a commercial director and wanting to continue working with Thrailkill, Nelson opted to join the start-up.
Born in Boston, Bernard graduated in ’90 from Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y., with a bachelor of fine arts. Upon graduation he went on the Lollapalooza tour with the Beastie Boys, where as the "juice pimp" he had the very important task of looking after the juice blender. During the tour he shot a lot of footage of the band on Super 8 and made a spec music video for the song "Root Down"—which the band released. Bernard then went on to direct several other music videos for the band’s record label, Grand Royal. In ’94, he signed with O.Pictures as a music video director. When O.Pictures closed, he moved with Thrailkill to X-Ray Productions, where he made his first commercial—a spot for Nike called "Product Assault" via Wieden+ Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Bernard’s credits through X-Ray include the ESPN "They’re Better Than Your Are" campaign via Wieden+Kennedy, New York, and Red Stripe’s "Ambassador" via Deutsch, New York. He recently directed a multi-spot campaign for PlayStation 2 via TBWA/Chiat/ Day/San Francisco. His music videos include Green Day’s "Nice Guys Finish Last" and "Minority," and Dixie Chicks’ "Ready to Run" and "Goodbye Earle." The latter was awarded country music video of the year at the 2000 Country Music Awards, Nashville.
While Nelson’s focus to date has been primarily on music videos, he also looks forward to branching into the commercials arena. "There’s some really creative work happening in commercials, and this move to Production League of America/ Chelsea is critical for me," he told SHOOT. "Creatively we are in sync. Chelsea Pictures bounces between comedy, fantasy and narrative, which are all part of my aesthetic choices,"
A native of Brooklyn, Nelson graduated in ’89 with a bachelor of fine arts from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, having completed a double major in screenwriting and production. Throughout college and for the next four years he worked as an assistant editor and on location with Spike Lee’s production company, Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Brooklyn. In ’93, Nelson had a stint as postproduction supervisor with commercial director Marcus Nispel’s now defunct production com-pany Portfolio Artists Network. Subsequently Nelson worked as a freelance director until joining X-Ray.
Nelson’s credits include a music video for De La Soul, with Chaka Khan, called "All Good"; a combination clip with Outcast and the Youngbloodz called "85"; and a clip for R&B artist Donnel Jones. "85" was nominated for best video of the year at the 2000 Source Awards, an annual urban music award show. Nelson also recently co-wrote and produced sketches for actor/writer/comedian/producer Leguizamo, who hosted the New York Magazine Awards and Yahoo online music awards.
Chelsea Pictures’ current directorial roster also includes Nicholas Barker, Anton Beebe, Simon Blake, Janusz Kaminski, Mehdi Norowzian, Alex Proyas, Steve Rogers, Peter Salmi and Andrew Walton.
Thrailkill will continue to executive-produce for Bernard and Nelson, and while PLA is in its formative stages, she will represent the directors in a sales capacity for music videos. Plans are in place to appoint a music video rep in the future.
PLA will be repped for commercials by Chelsea Pictures’ sales force: Marguerite Juliussen and Dawn Ratcliffe, of Chicago-based Juliussen Ratcliffe, in the Midwest; Mary Vandamme, San Francisco, on the West Coast; and executive producer/head of sales Lisa Mehling and Beth Davenport, both out of New York, on the East Coast.
