Conspiracy Films, bicoastal and Austin, Texas, has signed director David Leach for national commercial representation. Leach continues to maintain his New York-based photography studio, David Leach Inc., for print assignments.
For the past three years, Leach has been an occasional freelance spot director while working primarily as a print photographer for such clients as AT&T, Delta Airlines, Smith-Corona, Chase Bank, Honda and Sony. Before that, he was repped in the spot arena for three years by New York-based Big Picture Films, where he met Conspiracy executive producer Tony Harding, who briefly executive produced for Big Picture.
Harding related that he and Leach had stayed in touch since their overlapping tenures at Big Picture. When Leach sent Harding some updated spotwork, including several ads for Crispin, Porter+Bogusky (CP+B), Miami, Harding was impressed. "I thought it was really clever, contemporary comedy," he told SHOOT. "I felt it was a reel that would get a response from agencies."
Moreover, Harding expressed an affinity for Leach on a personal level: "He’s a really clever, inventive, fun person to be with. I’ve gone out to restaurants with him, and agency people have come over to talk to him," observed Harding. "Based on his print career and his TV experience, he’s made a lot of friends; and personality was high on my list. I know that I can trust my clients with him, and I know he’s going to get repeat business, which is vital today."
For his part, Leach said he was actively looking to sign with a production company. His joining Conspiracy is based on his relationship with Harding. "He’s somebody that I have a lot of confidence in," noted Leach, "and he’s certainly very enthusiastic about my work. I thought that was a great mix."
Leach explained that after departing Big Picture over a philosophical disagreement about the direction of his career, he had concentrated on shooting stills. Two years ago, Leach got a call from Alex Bogusky, creative director at CP+B, asking if he would direct a spot for sports apparel/sneaker manufacturer And 1.
Leach agreed. The result was the controversial commercial "American Dream," featuring vilified New York Knicks player Latrell Sprewell. Shot in documentary style, the spot shows Sprewell, who is getting his hair styled into cornrows, talking about his career. ("People say I’m what’s wrong with sports," Sprewell says in the ad. "I say I’m the American Dream.")
The And1 spot garnered industry attention, and CP+B called on Leach a year later to helm an Atom Films spot called "Acceptance Speech." In it an unseen narrator—an undiscovered filmmaker—gives an acceptance speech thanking his film’s collaborators, who are shown working at their regular day jobs. The writer, for instance, attends a parking lot, and the director’s wife (and muse) slings hash in a diner. The tag is, "Atom Films. Your doggy door to Hollywood."
The Atom spot was shot with a handheld 16mm camera in order to give it an independent film look, Leach related. "We wanted the light not to match," he said. "We deliberately chose situations that were not consistent from a color balance perspective, and we didn’t overcorrect things in the transfer."
With these two projects, Leach found his interest in commercial directing rekindled. "A point of view started to evolve," he recalled. "The contrast between film and print is enormous. My print work is lifestyle, people, very spontaneous. I love the contrast because, in the print world, the nature of what I’m doing and what I’m trying to achieve requires a lot of spontaneity. Obviously, TV requires a lot more thought and a map of how to get to where you want to go, which I also love."
Leach’s directorial credits include a spot for Partnership For a Drug Free America: "Any Way You Can," in which a mom and dad utilize unorthodox methods to convey an anti-drug message to their son; Big Picture Films served as production company and ad agency for the project.
In addition to Leach, Conspiracy represents directors Laura Belsey, Ken Morrison and Jean-Marc Piché. The company is repped on the East Coast by Single Bid, New York; on the West Coast by San Francisco-based Novick & Associates; in the Midwest by Chicago-based Gigante Moore; and in the South and Southwest by New Orleans-based Ann Asprodites and Sarah Lange.
