Director Roger Lunn has joined New York-based production house Link Entertainment for U.S. representation. He is repped in the U.K. by Frontier Pictures, London.
Between 1996 and ’99, Lunn was repped stateside by Creative Film Management (CFM), New York. Prior to that, he was with bicoastal Headquarters.
Through Frontier, Lunn has directed LG Telecom’s "Class" and "Street" via McCann Erickson, Seoul; and Panasonic’s "Icon" via McCann Erickson, London. In these spots, Lunn expresses a sci-fi, graphic style full of quick cuts. The director first came to prominence in the U.S. in ’83, with his "retro-noir" Guess? Jeans campaign (direct via the client). In ’87, Guess? Jeans’ "Picture Show," also client-direct, won a Clio for best cinematography. It was made through the now dissolved production company Gregory Lunn Challenge, better known as Challenge.
Lunn has been a director for more than 25 years, and has been affiliated with companies such as Stark Films, London, and the now defunct BFCS and N. Lee Lacy/Associates shops here in the U.S. During his interview with SHOOT, Lunn reminisced about his times at Andy Warhol’s Factory, and his experiences with everyone from music producer Malcolm McLaren ("We were at school together") to John Lennon ("Nice bloke") to director Tony Kaye ("We went to the same synagogue").
Lunn started his career in the late ’60s as a printmaker, studying at London’s Hornsey College of Art, Goldsmiths’ College and, briefly, the Royal College of Art. In the early ’70s, Lunn opened a printmaking shop in London, but by ’72 he had joined the staff of now defunct The Film Shop to learn filmmaking. Lunn was directing by ’75, and in ’78 he joined Challenge as a partner.
Over the years Lunn has directed everything from ad campaigns to corporate films. Last year, he decided to take a break from the American market and left CFM. But he re-evaluated the decision, and two months ago came to New York seeking U.S. representation. A colleague, DP David Griffiths, introduced him to Link’s partner/executive producer/national head of sales Johannes Loutsch, and to the firm’s executive producer, Ann Egbert.
"The reason I came here was it’s nice and clean," he commented, looking around the office and laughing. "No. It just felt good. As always, you go by your instincts. Ann had worked in Europe; she knows how Europeans work and think, which I think is very important when you take on a European director." Then he observed, "And Johannes and I hit it off. He has a sense of humor, which is reasonably rare."
In the next few months, explained Lunn, "The idea is that I’ll come over every six weeks or two months until things start moving. I’ll make a concerted effort, which I haven’t really done before." Lunn added he would be prepared to base himself in New York should his American career take off.
He pointed out, "I’ve never cracked the American market, and I would really like to do that…I also know a lot about postproduction, which I think a lot of people my age don’t know and would tend to say, ‘I’d like to do it all in camera.’ There’s a time and place for everything. I’ve learned some great tricks from some great technicians I’ve worked with. …" He continued, "A lot of people are foxed by the tremendous amount that you can do in postproduction. A lot of people just do it in postproduction because they’ve fucked up on the shoot." This is not the case for Lunn: "There are not too many things that I find daunting. I’ll do tabletop. and I’ll do big stuff."
Link’s directors include Nina Bittel, Brian Griffin, Carolyn Jones, Sarah Moon, director/DP Larry Robins, Neal Slavin and director of animation/designer Nick Ericson.
The New York-based Loutsch reps the directors on the East Coast, while Patty Everett of The Everett Group in West Hills, Calif., handles Link on the West Coast.
