Director Allen Martinez and executive producer Bernard Wesson have joined Motel Films, a Los Angeles-headquartered shop founded by director Rick Dublin. Wesson succeeds Michael Crapser, whose plans weren’t known at press time.
Martinez’s past affiliations include A Band Apart Commercials, Los Angeles, and Tate & Partners (now Tate USA), Santa Monica. He joined A Band Apart shortly after graduating from Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Calif., on the strength of a student spec reel. At the Tate studio, Martinez helmed spots for such clients as Michelob Lite, Yamaha Motorcycles, Blockbuster, Heineken and Ugly Duckling Car Sales. The latter, a comedic :30 titled “Kaboom,” was honored in the low budget category of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show in 1999.
More recently, Martinez’s directorial credits include spots for such clients as Quest Communications, McDonald’s, Subway, United States Postal Service, and Hilton Hotels. As one of the top 10 finalists for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Project Greenlight 2 on HBO, Martinez garnered the attention of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Beverly Hills, which signed him in ’04.
“Allen had the best reel that I had ever seen coming out of Art Center,” recalled Wesson. “It was well conceived and extremely well executed. I saw from the beginning that he had both the personality and the talent to become a top-flight director in the business. His current reel already proves it.”
Wesson is experienced on both the ad agency and production house sides of the business. He served as a producer at Ogilvy & Mather, New York, and went on to become executive producer at Venice, Calif.-headquartered Cucoloris Films. Over the years, Wesson has worked on commercials for such high-profile advertisers as AT&T, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, American Airlines, Sprint, Ford, Lexus and Citibank.
Martinez comes aboard a Motel directorial roster that also consists of Dublin, Todd Korgan and director/DP Richard Reens. Martinez said he was drawn to the company for several reasons, including the chance to work with Wesson whom he first met in ’98, and Motel’s boutique size which offers an intimate creative environment and personalized attention to projects as well as directors.
