Director Jason Farrand has signed for exclusive commercial representation in North America with Atlas Pictures, the Santa Monica production house under the aegis of president Sterling Ray.
Farrand was most recently represented by Straw Dogs, the bicoastal production house owned by publicly traded, New York-headquartered Paradise Music & Entertainment. Farrand joined that company a year ago (SHOOT, 11/19/99, p. 1).
His final assignment at Straw Dogs was for Citysearch.com, out of J. Brown/LMC Group, San Francisco. According to the director, the three ads use wordplay and "scenes with dualities," the effect being that first impressions can be deceiving. "We wanted to demonstrate that there is something for everyone [on the Citysearch.com search engine]." In one ad, for instance, it appears that two sophisticated women are enjoying a cocktail in the dim bar of a posh hotel, perhaps contemplating which movie to go to. But as the lights brighten, it becomes clear that they’re at a strip club. The voiceover juxtaposes "movie" and "Monty," as in The Full Monty, the feature film about amateur strippers.
Farrand’s additional spot assignments over the past year include Craftsman tools via Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago; and TV promos for the video and DVD release of the animated feature Iron Giant, out of Creative Domain, Los Angeles.
After wrapping the Citysearch. com campaign, Farrand took a brief sabbatical from directing to complete a screenplay, Cock and Bull. The film is scheduled to shoot in March with Farrand directing, Katie Holmes (Dawson’s Creek) starring, and Killer Films (Boys Don’t Cry) and Industry Entertainment producing. Farrand described the film as involving a story told by an old man to a young boy during a train journey, with the story itself becoming the central plot of the film.
"I’m trying to do something really different," the director said. "The audience won’t know what the film is about, or who is in it, [so they’ll have] no preconceived notions, which is an inherent part of the story."
Prior to joining Straw Dogs, Farrand spent three years with now defunct Fahrenheit Films. At Fahrenheit, he directed What Planet Are You From? for Planet Hollywood out of Bernstein-Rein, Kansas City, Mo.—a hip, visual film that makes use of splitting the screen three ways; Chevy’s "Fisherman" via Campbell-Ewald, Warren, Mich., which features pro golfer Greg Norman; and "Penalty," an Hispanic market Budweiser spot via Ornelas & Associates, Dallas. That ad revolves around a man imagining a penalty kick in a World Cup soccer match, a task for which he finds the pressure akin to stopping a train.
Often characterized as a visual storyteller, Farrand can boast a repertoire also including a simple-yet-elegant campaign for Lucky grocery stores out of Grey, Los Angeles, which is a departure from typical supermarket ad fare. "Basic" for instance, centers on some basic truths about grocery shopping, such as the fact that "everyone likes to eat." The spot blends footage of a woman shopping with scenes of a family gathered for dinner.
"My personal taste always leans toward doing something with the film and being artistic with what you see in front of the camera," Farrand explained. "But the most important thing on the set is working with actors and the camera."
A native of England, Farrand began making short films as a teenager and got his professional start at a camera/film equipment rental company, London-based Samuelson Film Services. In 1989 he relocated to the U.S., landing a post as an equipment/ technologies developer at Tarzana, Calif.-based Panavision.
In ’93 he co-wrote and directed The Last Refuge, a 30-minute environmental drama starring Martin Sheen and Mimi Rogers. Two years later, Farrand found his first spot roost at G.M.S. Productions (now bicoastal Villains). He shifted over to Fahrenheit in ’96.
Farrand joins an Atlas directorial roster that also includes directors Jim Byrkit, Jim Gamble, Pete Henderson, Greg Stump and Scott Messick, as well as directors/cameramen Chris Woods and Paul Boyd. (Boyd continues to be repped by bicoastal/international Propaganda for music clips.)
Atlas’ sales are handled by Los Angeles-based Saarinen on the West Coast; Chicago-based Get Reehl in the Midwest, and Bedford, N.Y.-based Michael Eha on the East Coast.
