By Robert Goldrich

SANTA MONICA --

Director Eden Diebel has joined Santa Monica-headquartered greatguns:usa for stateside spot representation. He was formerly handled in the U.S. by bicoastal HKM Productions. The shift in his American affiliation gives the London-based helmer continuity in his representation on both sides of the Atlantic, as Great Guns, London, remains his U.K. roost.

Diebel comes aboard greatguns:usa on the heels of his viral campaign for Appealnow.com, which has generated considerable buzz, with the Web spots extending far beyond their intended U.K. audience to assorted other countries.

The darkly humored yet serious spots address abuses by traffic wardens in the U.K., at times resulting in people being ticketed unfairly for alleged infractions. In “Kicking,” for example, a man walks across the street and is suddenly attacked by a traffic warden. The male warden wrestles him to the ground, kicking the victim repeatedly. Meanwhile a nearby female warden looks at her watch, waiting for time to elapse so she can slap a parking ticket on the victim’s car. She does just that, then jumps over the beaten man’s body laying in the middle of the street and makes good her escape with the other warden. A tagline advises people who’ve been wrongly ticketed to log onto appealnow.com.

Created by agency Nitro, London, and Diebel for the Appealnow.com Web site, the campaign also includes two other similarly themed spots. In “Bingo,” a gang of traffic wardens attacks a parked car. They violently jostle the car up and down until they successfully dislodge a handicapped driver placard–at which point they ticket the car and run off. The car’s owner then comes into view; she walks with a cane and implores the wardens to come back but they are long gone.

And in “Dead Cert,” a traffic warden tries to be inconspicuous as he approaches a car and places a ticket on its windshield. The camera pulls back to reveal that the car is a disabled, abandoned wreck as it has crashed into a lamppost. The Appealnow.com campaign collectively earned the People’s Prize, a kudo based on votes cast via the Internet, at The Viral Awards, London.

 

WORLDLY MIX

Diebel said he decided to join greatguns: usa upon meeting its executive producer Tom Korsan, noting that he felt an affinity for him similar to that which he’s held for Laura Gregory, managing director of Great Guns in the U.K.  This continuity of representation between the U.S. and the U.K. also appealed to Diebel in terms of best coordinating his schedule.

At press time, Diebel had wrapped a U.S. television spot for Dove Chocolate, which was shot in London and produced by Great Guns, London, for Nitro. Over the past year, he has done a mix of storytelling work, encompassing not only the U.S. but also the European and Canadian markets. For the latter, via his affiliation with Spy Films, Toronto, he helmed ads for Scotia Bank, Allstream, Advil, Wal-Mart and Purolator courier services, with U.K. fare including commercials for Nesquik and Tic Tac mints.

Diebel’s career began as film trailer editor in London. He then moved into directing music videos in the U.K. before relocating stateside where he helmed clips via Spellbound, part of the now defunct Propaganda Films.  Diebel later returned to the U.K., breaking into commercials with some spec work, including a Converse piece that helped him earn inclusion in the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase presented at the ’97 Cannes International Advertising Festival. He got the chance to do the Converse spec spot at The Artists Company, which at the time had an office in London. He subsequently joined the roster at The Artists Company, which continues to have bicoastal operations in the U.S.

    After The Artists Company, Diebel’s affiliations included bicoastal/international @radical.media, bicoastal Headquarters and then HKM. Over the years, he has helmed commercials around the world for such clients as Toyota, Smirnoff, The Discovery Channel, Mercedes-Benz, Orange, Datek, Volkswagen, Oreo and Coca-Cola.

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