Director John Zissimos, formerly of bicoastal/international Hungry Man, has joined Fools and Horses, the Los Angeles-based production house headed by owners/executive producers Shelly Townsend and Cyn Guzman, for exclusive U.S. representation in commercials.
A former creative director with TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York, Warwick Baker Fiore, New York, J. Walter Thompson (JWT), New York and San Francisco, and McCann Erickson, San Francisco, Zissimos has done award-winning creative work for such clients as Nissan, Nestle, Lipton and Amstel.
As a spot director specializing in comedy/dialogue, he has helmed campaigns and commercial projects for assorted clients, including Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Airborne, PG&E and the Inside Out Film Festival, all of which he wrapped as part of the directing team Zissimos+Rowan (in tandem with former agency creative colleague Greg Rowan).
Zissimos was repped by Hungry Man initially as a member of that directing duo and then as a solo helmer. Among Zissimos’ individual directorial credits are spot work for Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants, and his first two assignments under the Fools and Horses banner: a Sprint viral campaign that came out of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, and the comedic tongue-in-cheek “Quick, Get that Dog Some ALPO” campaign from Fallon Minneapolis.
Zissimos observed that his agency background has proved invaluable when engaging in collaborations with creative and production teams.
“I know what it’s like to spend a year with a :30 script and at the one-yard line hand it off to a director. I know how hard that is so I try to make something good and bring to life these ideas.”
During his agency tenure, Zissimos directed select projects for clients, including Mike’s Hard Lemonade at McCann Erickson, San Francisco. That work set the tone for what turned out to be a successful campaign for several years running.
Zissimos rounds out a Fools and Horses directorial roster comprised of David Denneen, Fuzzi Galuzzi, Kai Sehr, Laurence Thrush, Francois Valla, and Erik Van Wyk.
Actor Gene Hackman, Wife Betsy Arakawa and Their Dog Were Dead For Some Time, Warrant Shows
Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple's Santa Fe home, according to investigators. Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office detectives wrote in a search warrant. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa. Denise Avila, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds. The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn't find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A sheriff's detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning. The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the best actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s. "He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss," his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday. Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife A maintenance worker reported that the home's front door was open when he arrived to do routine work on Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies, investigators said. He and... Read More