Open Frame Productions, New York, has added Paris-based directors Zoo and Eric Barbier to its roster. Both Barbier and Zoo (a trio consisting of Julien Rambaldi, David Fauche and Matthieu Mantovani) continue to be represented in Europe by Paris-based Big Productions. The signing marks Barbier’s first foray into the U.S. market. Zoo had been repped by bicoastal/international @radical.media in the U.S. and internationally as a complement to Big Productions’ European representation of the directing team.
Big Productions executive producer Pierre Rambaldi (who is Julien Rambaldi’s older brother) decided to shift Zoo’s stateside representation to Open Frame in order to align the directing team with a smaller U.S. company. Pierre Rambaldi also had a friendly relationship with Open Frame executive producer Andrew Swee, and was looking for the right opportunity to work with him.
"Zoo has a visual style and sense of humor that bowled me over, and Eric’s production design and film aesthetic is truly extraordinary. … While they have a European bent, I thought they were very appropriate for the American market," said Swee.
Zoo initially began as a duo consisting of Julien Rambaldi and Fauche. The two came to Big Productions three years ago, when Pierre Rambaldi first opened the company’s doors. After spending most of their youth and early adulthood shooting short films, they were ready to enter the commercial arena. Shortly thereafter, Mantovani, who started his career assisting Italian fashion photographer Paulo Roverfi at Italian Vogue, joined the couple (mainly as an art director), and Zoo was officially born.
Right out of the gates, the team won a campaign in France for Epeda Mattresses out of Australie, Levallois-Perret, France. One of the spots called "Bug" features a man sharing his bed with an enormous—and amorous—bed bug. "The two commercials put them in a very good position in Europe because they were very young and it was a good account," said Pierre Rambaldi.
Based on the Epeda Mattresses work, Zoo was contacted by @radical.media and subsequently signed a year and a half ago. However, their commercial assignments have come primarily from Europe via Big Producttions, including recent spots for such advertisers as Norauto, Banque Populaire, Ibis Hotels, MAAF Insurance and Visual Opticians.
Meanwhile Barbier, who joined Big Productions three years ago, wrote and directed the ’91 feature Le Brasier as well as Toreros, which was released this year. His most recent commercial effort is a disturbing PSA for Prevention Routiere called "Crossroads" via Australie, Paris. In the spot, a teenage boy speeds through a yellow light with three of his friends in the car. In a dream-like sequence, the unscathed driver first rejoices at making it through the intersection, only to look in the rearview mirror to find his friends dead in the backseat. During his tenure at Big Productions, Barbier has also shot spots for Belgacom, Grant’s Whiskey, STR8 (a perfume) and AGF.
At press time, neither Zoo nor Barbier could be reached for comment. They join an Open Frame roster that includes director David Stewart and director/ graphic designer Linzi Knight. Open Frame is represented on the East Coast by Maggie Klein of Maggie Klein & Co., New York, on the West Coast by Brent Novick of San Francisco-based Novick & Associates, and in the Midwest by Tim Harwood of Tim Harwood & Associates, Chicago.
