Crossroads has opened bicoastal music video house Merge, headed by executive producer Joseph Uliano. Merge joins the Crossroads family of companies, which includes spot production company Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago; bicoastal commercial houses X-Ray Productions and X-1 Films; bicoastal broadcast creative services agency/production company Crossroads Television; New York-based editorial/post house 89 Greene and, most recently, the Crossroads Films feature division (SHOOT, 2/16, p. 1) and the design firm Safe (SHOOT, 2/23, p. 7).
Uliano and head of sales Neil Maiers came over to launch Merge from Santa Monica-based Crash Films, which has closed its music video division. At Crash, Uliano was executive producer/partner, and Maiers was the directors’ rep. Former Crash directors Nancy Bardawil, Bill Barminski, Betsey Blakemore, Jeff Gordon, Sean Watson and Ruben Whitmore II have joined Uliano and Maiers at Merge. Those six directors are now repped for commercials through X-Ray, joining a roster that includes Jesse Peretz, Francine McDougall, Russell Bates, Risa Mickenberg and Ron Cicero. In turn, all of the X-Ray directors are repped by Merge for clips. Also, editor-turned-director Jeff Richter, who was repped by No Prisoners, Los Angeles, for commercials until last year, is joining Merge and X-Ray as a helmer. Most recently, Richter was repped by his own Earthquake Productions for spot work. Richter said that the Los Angeles shop, which currently reps director G. Thomas, is planning to shut within the next few months. However, Earthquake Edit, which Richter owns, will remain open. Its staff includes editors Jarrett Fijal, Miles Browne and Leonard Shields, and executive producer Rick Michul.
Uliano graduated from the University of Georgia, Athens, in 1980, with a B.F.A. in film and television. After a stint as then-Florida Governor Bob Graham’s spokesperson for energy and conservation, Uliano spent several years producing commercials in Georgia and Floridaflhe was Florida Film & Tape, Orlando’s executive producer around ’85. He moved to California in ’87 to attend the American Film Institute (AFI), Los Angeles, graduating from there in ’90, with a M.F.A. in producing. A longtime guitar-player, Uliano followed his interest in music to become a freelance clip producer for artists like Tom Petty and Prince. He founded his own music video house, One World Productions, in ’92. One World was folded into Crash Films when Uliano joined the latter company in ’96 as executive producer for music videos.
In December 2000, Crossroads partner/owner Cami Taylor approached Uliano, who was intrigued by the opportunity of working with Crossroads’ various companies. As Uliano told SHOOT, "Someone had suggested to Cami that she talk to me. I had admired Crossroads, and liked Crossroads’ presence." Uliano liked the idea of working within a company that boasted both feature film and television divisions, and, "They offered me my own division, so it seemed like a natural step."
The parting with Crash was amicable, Uliano reported. "Bill [Fortney] and Gary [Ward, Crash’s executive producers] are good friends of mine. The move was all above board. They knew before I even looked [that I was thinking of leaving]." He said that the directors who have followed him to Merge are those with whom he worked closely at Crash. Uliano pointed out: "It was a natural thing to want to grow and move to a company that had a little bit larger, more international base, as well as a feature division. It’s more about the presence—the sales force, the management. The people here have such a good rapport with their directors. … Crossroads is a large company, but it has not become ‘corporate’flit’s all very personal."
Ward explained, "Bill and I come out of commercials, and that was the reason we started working with Joe in the first place. And obviously our careers, and our directors [Ron Ames, Billy Kent, Keva Rosenfeld, Robin Willis], have been focused on commercials." He said that Crash may open another music video division, but at this point the company has no firm plans. "The move was a good opportunity for Joe," Ward added, "and we hope that he does well."
In addition to grooming music video helmers for spots, Uliano is interested in other areas—last year he sold a show to CBS. (It was not produced.) He hopes to continue to explore new opportunities at Crossroads: "Here, I’ve got the kind of support to continue those things. In a company that only does commercials, you’re on your own with non-commercial projects."
Uliano’s directors have diverse backgrounds and skills: For example, Bardawil was a performance artist, Barminski is a fine artist and Watson is a graphic designer. "Everyone works in several disciplines," said Uliano. "I feel my role is to find and bring in multitalented people who can work in different disciplines. … Merge is what the name says: a collision of art, advertising, movies and Internet."
Taylor is also enthusiastic about Crossroads’ latest division: "It was serendipitous that Joe and I were able to hook up at a time when he was looking and we were open to doing something like this. I think we’re both exceedingly pleased about Merge. Because you can spend a lot of time looking and never find something that’s quite as good a fit as this is."
Taylor charted the evolution of Merge, noting that for several years, music videos were produced under the X-Ray banner. Until recently, clips were produced by former X-Ray executive producer Jo Ann Thrailkill, who, with directors Evan Bernard and David Nelson, exited X-Ray to launch music video/commercial production satellite the Production League of America at bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures [SHOOT, 1/12, p. 7]. "We had known that [Thrailkill’s exit] was likely," noted Taylor, "so I started talking to people."
One of them was Uliano. "Because Joe is an important name in the music business," related Taylor, "we wanted to highlight him and the people he was going to be representing." To reflect Uliano’s contribution, "We wanted to give the music video division a new name and a new identity." Thus Merge was born.
Taylor reported that there has been no problem in integrating the former Crash directors into Merge and X-Ray: "Joe said that there were directors he’d brought to Crash, and that they planned on staying with him if possible. We looked at the talent he was attached to, and they’re great. Our sales team looked at the reels as well, and everybody was very enthusiastic." Though X-Ray’s roster has expanded by six, Taylor pointed out, "The [former Crash] directors who are working consistently in commercials at this point are really Nancy [Bardawil], Jeff [Gordon] and Bill [Barminski]. We’ll try to nurture all the directors into commercials, and all of them fit in nicely with the X-Ray roster."
"I think Joe has a great eye for talent," Taylor continued. "He’s interested in music videos and is committed to building a music video company, but he is also very interested in commercials and filmmaking in general. I think that’s the right profile for an executive producer who’s with Crossroads, because we’re about everything: We’re very diverse." For example, "We’ve already put some of the Merge people up for promo work at ABC [through Crossroads Television]. I’ve spoken to Nancy’s feature agent, because she’s been working on a feature project; we’re trying to see if we can do anything in conjunction with Bingham [Ray, partner/ head of Crossroads Films’ new feature division]. That’s the idea: We can promote the people we work with in any number of ways."
Maiers, based in Los Angeles, is Merge’s head of sales. Kathleen Cornell and Jamie Flynn of Cornell & Company, Venice, Calif., serve as X-Ray’s national head of sales and West Coast rep, respectively. Sharon Lew of Lew & Company, New York, reps X-Ray on the East Coast, and Helen O’Brien of O’Brien Company, Chicago, is X-Ray’s Midwest rep.
