Director Nicole Holofcener–whose feature filmography includes Enough Said, Please Give, Friends with Money and Lovely & Amazing, all either nominated for Independent Spirit Awards or in the case of Please Give honored with the Robert Altman Award–has joined the roster of Bob Industries for commercials and branded content.
Holofcener is no stranger to the ad discipline. Awhile back, she directed a Secret deodorant commercial produced by Independent Media (iM), the production house that previously repped her for commercials. And earlier this year, Holofcener independently directed a public service spot for Every Mother Counts, Christy Turlington Burns’ foundation that promotes prenatal and postnatal care all over the world. The PSA broke around this past Mother’s Day online.
Holofcener’s body of work also extends to television. She recently directed an episode of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black and at press time was about to embark on an episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, a new NBC series. Holofcener has also directed multiple episodes of Parks and Recreation (NBC), Enlightened (HBO), Six Feet Under (HBO) and Sex and the City (HBO).
Drawing Holofcener to Bob Industries initially were her friends Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, also known as the directorial team Dayton/Faris (Little Miss Sunshine), who have a long track record of spotmaking at Bob. “I mentioned to them that I’d like to get more into commercials,” recalled Holofcener, “and they invited me to come meet with [Bob partners/exec producers] TK [Knowles] and Chuck [Ryant]. I felt comfortable with them, saw that their company did interesting work and trusted that they would be committed to helping me get my share of interesting work.”
Holofcener said she’s found her commercialmaking experience to be creatively gratifying and enjoyable. “It’s a creative way to make a living, providing you with challenging storytelling opportunities. Plus in terms of scheduling, it’s still possible for me to continue with my movie and television work. When I did the Secret commercial, it was very much like making a mini-movie. The actors were great. And it’s amazing how much prep and work went into one day of shooting.”
As for making the creative adjustment from longer-form filmmaking to spot directing, Holofcener observed, “There are different details in each discipline but in some respects it’s all the same. It’s basically about me trying to do my best, to communicate well, to listen well, to direct well, to find the best approach. Whether it’s TV, movies or commercials, you have to figure out where’s the best place to put the camera, how do I best communicate with the production designer, how do I make an actor feel safe and comfortable so we can get what we want.”
In terms of the biggest difference between her theatrical feature and TV endeavors, Holofcener related, “In TV and commercials, I’m not the boss. I’m working for somebody else. I don’t have final say. I’m aiming to please someone else. But I haven’t found this to be that difficult a transition because I love collaborating. My first TV job was for Sex and the City. I had so much respect for the creators and writers of that show, it was natural for me to turn around and ask, ‘Is that what you want?’ I wanted to please them. It wasn’t my baby. It was theirs. I wanted to make them proud and to make sure they were happy with what I was doing. That has continued with every TV show I’ve done–some with more producers and writers looking over my shoulder than others. But I don’t bring a big ego to the work. I want to do a good job.”
The alluded to Independent Spirit’s Robert Altman Award–an honor given to a film’s director, casting director and its ensemble cast–was bestowed in 2011 upon Please Give, which Holofcener wrote and directed. Holofcener scored her first Independent Spirit nominations for Lovely & Amazing in 2003 for both Best Director and Best Screenplay. In 2007, she earned another Best Screenplay nomination for Friends with Money. This was followed by Best Screenwriter Spirit nominations in 2011 for Please Give and in 2014 for Enough Said. Please Give also garnered a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award nomination.
Holofcener’s feature filmmaking debut, Walking and Talking, which she wrote and directed, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.
Over the years, Holofcener’s films have seen her work with and elicit complex performances from such actors as Joan Cusack, Liev Schreiber, Frances McDormand, Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Kenner, Jake Gyllenhall, Julia Louis Dreyfus and James Gandolfini. The latter two starred in last year’s lauded romantic comedy, Enough Said, which marked one of the last movie performances from Gandolfini who died of a heart attack in June 2013.
As for her next feature, Holofcener is writing an original screenplay, and adapting a book ("Can You Ever Forgive Me?"), with plans calling for her to direct both projects.
