Bicoastal/international Propaganda Films has added director Jeffrey Fleisig to its roster. Known for performance-driven, wry humor, the director had been represented by bicoastal shop Villains since early 1999.
At Villains, Fleisig’s spot credits included "Roomates" and "Boop" for Pacific Bell via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco; "Delivery" for Wine.com out of Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners West, San Francisco; and Sprite’s "Go Out with Me" for Lowe Lintas & Partners, New York—in addition to Canadian spots "Lunch" and "Elevator" for telecommunications company Telus via Palmer Jarvis DDB Downtown, Toronto.
According to Colin Hickson, VP of commercials at Propaganda, Fleisig has a strong point of view that factors heavily in the "extremely well-crafted" commercials on his reel. "We’ve been watching Jeffrey for quite awhile," said Hickson. "What excited us was the strong, intelligent perspective that he brings to all his spots.
"Jeffrey has done great work so far, and [signing him] was about moving on into other areas that we may have stronger contacts in," continued Hickson. "To that end, we’re talking about a job out of Europe."
Fleisig said that he, Hickson and head of sales Dana Balkin "shared the same type of sensibility and taste in terms of what good advertising is and what makes a successful spot." Also drawing the director to the company was, he said, the opportunity to "move into areas I wasn’t in before, as far as quality work and type of work—[which include] domestic and European jobs."
Fleisig also cited Propaganda’s strong sales presence on the East Coast as a key consideration—particularly since he recently moved back East after many years in California. New York-based Matt Factor and Tara Ford serve as Propaganda’s East Coast reps.
Additionally, Fleisig pointed to the success of Propaganda director Dante Ariola and directing team Kuntz & Maguire (a.k.a. Tom Kuntz and Mike Maguire) as evidence of the company’s skill in career management and talent development. "Propaganda has helped develop them into the formidable directors that they are now," Fleisig observed. "[The ability] to do that in today’s wickedly competitive marketplace was really appealing to me. They discovered, nurtured and built these guys, and that said a lot to me."
According to Fleisig, his own tendency is toward comedic work that exposes the less-glamorous side of humanity. As an example, he cited the awkward meeting between an uncomfortable banker and a gay couple applying for a loan, in the spot "Nervous Banker" for the Gay Financial Network (GFN) via Mad Dogs & Englishmen, New York. The ad was included in The Best Work You May Never See gallery (SHOOT, 8/25/00, p. 15); Fleisig also helmed "100% Heterosexual," the other spot in the GFN campaign.
Among his other noteworthy commercials is "Lottery," a spec piece Fleisig wrote and directed for Lenscrafters that was honored in the spec commercial category at the 1999 Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show. It depicts a man telling off his boss in front of stunned coworkers, only to realize that he misread the last number of his supposedly winning lottery ticket. That year, the ad was subsequently included in Saatchi & Saatchi’s New Director Showcase at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.
"There’s an honesty that comes out of those [types of] situations, which comes across in the performances Jeffrey gets out of people," said Hickson.
Fleisig started out as a freelance editor/writer in the promo department at NBC, where he first got the opportunity to direct projects in-house. He turned his focus towards commercial directing—out of the misconception that it was "an easy gig," he said, with a laugh. "I thought it was an easy road to features … little did I know that it’s harder to get a commercial these days than a feature."
In ’96, Fleisig joined his first production roost, bicoastal Moxie Pictures, where he directed ads for Toyota and Southwestern Bell. The latter job, out of Simmons, Durham, Minneapolis, included the spot "Mafia," which won an ADDY Award for best comedy in ’96. After leaving Moxie in late ’97, Fleisig helmed spec work and several promos for NBC, including "Pottery Class" and "English as a Second Language," which were part of a "Must-See TV" mockumentary campaign.
At press time, Propaganda was bidding on a Frutella spot out of DDB Paris for Fleisig. Besides the aforementioned Balkin, Ford and Factor, Propaganda is repped in the Midwest by Chicago-based Dawn Rao, on the West Coast by Los Angeles-based Mal Ward and throughout Europe by London-based Jani Guest.
