Salvation, a Minneapolis-based production company, has added comedy director Chuck Statler and motion graphics/design director Ed Raeker.
Statler continues to maintain his own shop, Jigsaw Pictures, Minneapolis, for select regional and local clients, including Minneapolis-headquartered retailer Best Buy and agency Nelson Henry, Wayzata, Minn. Statler’s most recent spot credit is "Toilet," a client-direct project for Best Buy. To convey the message that Best Buy lets customers try items out before they buy, the spot depicts a man dropping his pants and sitting on a toilet on display in a home improvement store.
Regarded as a music video pioneer, Statler made his name in the pre- and early MTV era—most notably with his work with new wave group Devo, for which he directed or co-directed about a dozen clips. He also directed the early videos of such artists as Elvis Costello, J. Geils Band, Nick Lowe, Madness and Graham Parker.
Statler subsequently ventured into commercial work and developed a distinctive, broadly comedic style marked by bold art direction. This is seen, for example, in "Did Ya Hear?," a recent spot he helmed for regional haircutting chain Great Clips—another longtime client. The campy ad shows young men and women gleefully breaking out into a choreographed song-and-dance routine.
Salvation executive producer/partner Kris Knutson said that he and partner/director Walter Pitt focused on adding directors after their two-man shop recently marked its first year in business. "We decided to bring on some new people to continue the company’s momentum of the past year," Knutson elaborated.
Earlier this year, Knutson began discussions with Statler, whose last affiliation was with Comotion Films, Atlanta; previously he had worked with Compulsive Pictures, New York, and Ben Moon, Chicago. His credits include spots for Ruffies trash bags, Viacom, Dayton’s, McDonald’s, Dairy Queen and The Disney Channel, and a package of IDs and promos for the ABC network’s Saturday morning programming lineup.
"Chuck’s style and personality were what really attracted Walter and me," stated Knutson. "We’re positioning ourselves to be a shop about unique individuals and styles … and Chuck certainly fits that bill. His work in the past was certainly rooted in very broad comedy, which I think is coming back. I think there’s a huge opportunity for us to reintroduce him to this market, but also expose him to a broader market nationally."
For his part, Statler explained that he signed with Salvation based on the regard he has for Knutson, and said he liked what the company was attempting to accomplish. Statler recalled having met Knutson a few years ago, when the latter was a staff producer at Fallon, Minneapolis, although nothing came of the meeting until the two recently reconnected.
"I think [Knutson] is a sharp young guy, and we’ll see what comes of [the affiliation]," Statler commented. "And if I can be of any help to him—great: It works both ways." Additionally, Statler said he likes Knutson’s idea of pursuing more kids-oriented work, which often calls for art direction similar to that he has used in comedic spots.
Although he has stepped back from videos, Statler retains his penchant for music and is an avid enthusiast of the Minneapolis music scene. He is now finishing a longform music film he directed that features a dozen bands. The project has been in the works for a number of years, and Statler hopes to secure marketing for the piece in the fall.
RAEKER
Meanwhile, Raeker has worked independently through his own Minneapolis-based entity, Pangaea 2, which he set up two years ago. He has served as a senior designer at Pangaea 2, and has hired freelance artists as necessary. He’ll continue to maintain Pangaea 2 for select projects, although he said that the majority of his work will be produced by Salvation.
Raeker’s credits include logo animation for Let’s Bowl, a pilot for Comedy Central, which has subsequently ordered 13 episodes. Raeker has also created main title sequences for the short films Moment One, directed by Benno Nelson of Revolver, Santa Monica and Toronto; and Generation Lost, directed by independent Tyrel Ventura. Additionally, Raeker created the animated portions of the music video "Rockstar" for Flipp, which was directed by David Moe of Setterholm Productions, Minneapolis.
Schooled in graphic design and illustration at St. Paul-based College of Visual Arts and the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, Raeker said that joining Salvation was the culmination of his push to find and partner with like-minded creative people. Noting that he likes to work collaboratively, he added, "I’m very interested in doing spots and continue to be interested in music videos. I love the world of titles, but it’s not a huge revenue generator.
"After researching some new production companies in town," he continued, "I came across Salvation and dropped my reel off. I met with them and discovered we have similar goals; it was instant chemistry."
Knutson told SHOOT that he and Pitt were struck by Raeker’s reel. "Considering all the work we’ve been seeing coming out of this area, Ed’s reel stood out tremendously. There’s more dimension to the work—particularly some of the newer work, like the credit sequence for Moment One. [Raeker] is a fantastic way to broaden our creative offerings. We can offer him some support and expose him to a broader market."
Additionally, Knutson expressed the hope that Raeker will introduce Salvation into the film/television arena. To that end, Knutson related, they have met with several producers from PBS about the possibility of doing a show opening for a program.
Salvation is repped in the Midwest by Chris Breneman of Stacey & Annie & Chris, Chicago. Knutson said the production company is considering widening its representation across the country.
