The response to SHOOT’s New Directors Search presentation at the Clio Festival last week in Miami has been gratifying. The work of an agency artisan who was one of our 20 up-and-coming helmers has generated inquiries from a number of production houses, while another director whose reel consisted of spec spots elicited interest from an executive at NBC’s promo department.
Meanwhile, offering another form of real-world feedback to new talent at the session were a couple of featured speakers, both industry vets: Texas East, senior partner/co-director of broadcast production for Ogilvy & Mather, New York; and Tom Mooney, president of bicoastal Headquarters.
Mooney and East also heard first hand from five of the directors themselves who turned out for the discussion: Caskey Ebeling of The Ebeling Group, Los Angeles; Owen Harris of bicoastal/international Hungry Man; Stewart Hendler of Omaha Pictures, Santa Monica; Albert Kodagolian of Tate & Partners, Santa Monica, and Joy Films, London; and David Preizler of bicoastal Person Films and London-based Serious Pictures.
The directors told their stories of breaking into the business, which have been chronicled in SHOOT over the past year-plus, most recently touched upon in our New Directors Showcase section (5/16, p. 23).
Both East and Mooney acknowledged that it’s tough for a new director to break into the market today. East noted that an agency is more likely to take a chance on a new director if he or she is with an established production house. A new director with a new company offers too many unknown variables, he observed.
Mooney said that Headquarters’ modus operandi for young directors is to bring them to the attention of select creative people, usually at smaller agencies that are willing to take risks because they often have less money for particular projects. He noted that certain agencies are open to giving new directors a shot, albeit on under-funded or spec work.
Offering a bit of an edge for new directors, said East, is the nature of the current ad landscape, which includes not only commercials but prospects for longer form sponsored content as well. East related that directors who are geared to nontraditional forms of expression and can incorporate that into their working discipline could have an advantage over older, established helmers.
East noted that young directors who do 30 takes with 15 endings in mind, offering different alternatives—such as a trap door to facilitate the continuation of a spot’s story on a Web site—can prove especially appealing to agencies. More clients will wind up involved in alternative media, related East. This means that the advertising budget pie will be cut into more slices. A range of work that can be deployed over multiple platforms offers a needed dimension that can favorably reflect back on a brand, he said.
Digital asset management, a prevalent buzz phrase, will also carry weight when deciding on a director for a job, continued East. "Digital asset management is becoming a bigger part of our business," he affirmed. "An agency can look back on its work—at entire global efforts made on behalf of a brand. Looking at the various directors involved, agencies can reach immediate conclusions as to why such-and-such a director, a DP or a particular location is wrong or right for an upcoming project."
However, stressed Mooney and East, no matter how many obstacles are in the way, it’s vital that new directors break into the business. "The advertising community constantly needs new worthwhile talent," said Mooney, who noted that Headquarters budgets a significant amount of money each year to invest in promising new directors. "It’s the lifeblood of the industry."
