Not To Scale, the New York-based production and animation company with offices in Amsterdam and London, has added veteran commercial director Erik Buth to its roster. Buth and Not to Scale exec producer Santino Sladavic, who previously worked together at Blind, are teaming up again at Not to Scale’s NYC office.
“Santino was the executive producer that made my first professional directing job happen,” related Buth. “We were working together at Blind when I moved from editing to directing, and the rest is history.”
Buth’s most recent work spans Sweet ‘N Low; a spellbinding short film for the long running video game franchise MX vs. ATV; sports apparel company Russell Athletic; and mattress maker Sealy.
Buth brings over 20 years of experience in the advertising, television, and film industries, in which he has worked as a director, creative director, art director, designer, animator, and editor. Buth also has extensive directorial experience for live action, 3D animation, and 2D motion graphics, and has helped create a wide variety of commercials, promos, network ID’s, spots, title sequences, and feature film trailers.
Buth moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s and took a job at Creative Partnership as an assistant editor and postproduction supervisor before striking out on his own as a freelance editor. It was while editing the teaser trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan that Buth met Garson Yu, founder of Yu+Co, which sparked what would be an extended creative partnership. Over the balance of the ‘90s, Buth worked on title sequences for films including Enemy of the State, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Lost Souls, as well as spots for Intel, Showtime, and a theatrical trailer for Dolby Digital.
In early 2001, Buth gave up the freelance life to work for Blind, first as an editor and art director, and eventually as creative director and director. During his 13-year tenure at Blind, Buth directed spots for Chili’s Baby Back Ribs, Pringles, Verizon, Sealy, Oppenheimer Funds, Microsoft, American Airlines, Sweet ‘N Low and Russell Athletic, among others.
