While his directorial career continues its ascent, Miles Jay admits his sense of timing could use some help in terms of determining which award show ceremonies to attend. Jay, whose spotmaking/branded content home is production company Smuggler, brought his mom to two award shows–the DGA Awards in 2016 when he was nominated for the commercial director of the year honor on the strength of his poignant “It Can Wait” for ESPN and AT&T; and the Grammy Awards earlier this year when he was up for Best Music Video on the basis of Leon Bridges’ “River.”
Neither the DGA or Grammy proceedings yielded a trophy so Jay wasn’t inclined to bring his mom to yet another ceremony and set her up for disappointment. He passed on the Creative Arts Emmy gala in Los Angeles this past Sunday (9/10). Anyway, he was already busy on another project which had him in New York at the time.
So the night of the Emmy Awards ceremony, Jay came up a winner in absentia. His “Calling JohnMalkovich.com” for client Squarespace–produced by Smuggler for New York agency JohnXHannes–took the primetime Emmy, topping a field which also consisted of: Ad Council’s “Love Cam” and “We Are America” from R/GA; Google’s “Year in Search 2016” short created by 72andSunny; and Gathering For Justice’s “Why I March” PSA out of mcgarrybowen, San Francisco.
The Squarespace commercial–which debuted during this year’s Super Bowl telecast–deployed humor to great effect, showing actor Malkovich in his fashion design studio talking to someone who has already claimed the domain name JohnMalkovich.com. This raised the question of who is being John Malkovich as the famous thespian tries to convince the other Malkovich to give him back his “rightful” domain name.
The underlying sales pitch is that you better take care of business and get your domain name through Squarespace–or you could wind up being an angry Malkovich.
“Calling JohnMalkovich.com” was part of a multi-faceted Squarespace campaign from JohnXHannes which also included another Super Sunday spot and a short film. Titled Journey, the short captures a Malkovich different from his public persona. Even as compared to the Super Bowl ads, the short uncovers a softer yet determined side of Malkovich who’s launching a fashion line. Best known for his film work, Malkovich actually began his career in costume design. The Squarespace campaign explores the challenges Malkovich faces as he battles to break free from perceptions about him so that he can be thought of differently, in this case for his fashion sensibilities. Jay directed both spots and the short.
Gratified over the Emmy win, Jay perhaps values it even more because it comes for a comedy spot, a genre with which he isn’t normally associated. Though his credits include a romantic comedy short, The Statistical Analysis of Your Failing Relationship–which was well received at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, earning a Jury Award–Jay has more of a reputation in serious, thought-provoking, emotion-stirring fare. For example, the aforementioned “It Can Wait” tells the story of Fletcher Cleaves, a promising high school football player who shortly after being awarded an athletic scholarship to attend Lambuth University sustained serious injuries in an automobile accident which left him a paraplegic. Right before the tragic collision, it turns out the driver of the other vehicle was looking down at a text message on her cell phone. A 90-second version of the six-minute short It Can Wait (also directed by Jay) landed the DGA Award nomination. Jay blended elements of documentary and fiction, recreating the past and chronicling the present–which six years after the accident finds Cleaves moving into his own apartment to lead an independent life.
Jay demonstrated a penchant for evoking empathy early on in his career with the lauded Carly’s Cafe for agency john st., Toronto, which enabled an audience to see life through the eyes of Carly Fleishman, a 17 year old who was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of two. She communicated to her family for the first time by typing on a computer at the age of 11. Carly’s Cafe is an online experience through which viewers can navigate in and about a virtual cafe with the same distractions and pressures that Carly encounters. This inspired piece of interactive storytelling earned Jay a Silver Lion as well as the Young Director award at Cannes in 2012. The interactive short also helped him gain inclusion in SHOOT’s spring 2013 collection of up-and-coming directors.
Embracing comedy
Acknowledging that “Calling JohnMalkovich.com” put him “a little outside my comfort zone,” Jay embraced the challenge of comedy, working with Malkovich for the first time, and not allowing the actor’s public persona to descend into caricature–particularly in what turned out to be the Emmy-winning Super Bowl commercial.
“This campaign was a passion project from the beginning,” related Jay. “Getting the chance to direct John Malkovich, being able to get involved early on from the script stage–what a great opportunity. John is really the opposite of his popular persona. He is a sweet, beautiful man. He was gracious and took my direction. And the experience of collaborating with the creatives at JohnXHannes was very positive.”
As for what’s next, at press time Jay was in the midst of prepping for a hip-hop music video set to shoot in New York. Not at liberty to publicly disclose the identity of the rap artist, Jay noted that this isn’t your typical hip-hop clip, adding that “a compelling story” is involved.
Additionally, Jay recently wrapped a Bose headphones campaign for Grey London. This work is slated to debut in about a month.
