Director Kieran Walsh has signed with Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago. His spot clients over the years have included the likes of ESPN, HSBC, Coca-Cola, MasterCard, Midas, Volkswagen, Choice Hotels, Hartford, the United States Postal Service, and Scotia Bank.
“I like the challenge of giving the emotional connection between the characters and the viewer a voyeuristic quality and resonance,” related Walsh. “The audience is smarter than we give them credit for and the job of the director and agency is to support an idea through authenticity or they [the audience] will change the channel.”
Among Walsh’s notable commercials is ESPN’s “Gathering,” which earned SHOOT Top Spot distinction (1/24/03, p. 10). The ad shows a family get-together that is torn asunder due to relatives’ conflicting soccer team allegiances. The humorous tagline, tinged with sarcasm, asks, “Without sports, how would we all come together?”
Walsh’s previous company affiliations include bicoastal Anonymous Content and prior to that, bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures. His first career roost was bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ).
The latter shop signed him in 1995 on the basis of two spec spots he directed. Early on in his directorial career at MJZ, Walsh became known for his visual style in commercials. Then he diversified into dialogue and actor performance-driven ad fare. He spent six years at MJZ before signing with Chelsea in summer of ’01, and then Anonymous Content in late ’03.
Graduating from Columbia University in ’90 with a major in philosophy and minors in photography and dramatic arts, Walsh went to Los Angeles to work on commercials. Starting out as a production assistant, he moved up the industry ladder to become the producer of some low-budget commercials and music videos, which he freelanced through various production companies. This production experience helped his directorial aspirations as he made key contacts and learned about different aspects of commercialmaking.
Walsh returned to New York in ’94 to make the leap into directing with the pair of earlier alluded to spec spots–one for Nike, another for fashion designer agnes b. The work was enough to convince MJZ to take Walsh on as a director.
Repping Walsh at Crossroads are Tanya Cohen on the West Coast, Sharon Lew on the East Coast, and Helen O’Brien and Janice Harryman in the Midwest.
