Director Keir McFarlane has joined bicoastal Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ) for commercial and music video representation. He comes over from bicoastal/international Propaganda Films, where he signed on in 1996.
According to McFarlane, the changes in the ownership and management at Propaganda during his tenure there altered the fundamental nature of that company, which, he contended, began to put a greater emphasis on features. While he remained consistently busy with commercials, McFarlane said he sought to gain higher-quality spot projects.
MJZ partner/executive producer David Zander said he was impressed by McFarlane’s reel and the evident storytelling ability behind it. "It felt as though there was a big brain behind the work—someone who could construct a story from beginning to middle to end," Zander ex-plained. "There weren’t any extraneous shots. Some guys shoot a lot of coverage and try to tell the story through editorial, as opposed to really planning it. But with Keir’s work, each shot moves the story forward."
Asked why he joined MJZ, McFarlane quipped that he’d asked around at other companies to find out whom they feared most in the business: "David Zander’s name kept being repeated—so, of course, I was hooked." McFarlane observed that MJZ "is a lean, efficient company with friendly people who actually like the commercial business. The sales reps are also very strong, and David Zander is a hawk. I don’t like to do great volumes of work," he added. "So far, I’ve had luck getting interesting campaigns. Overall, I want to continue with the quality work I’ve been doing and have some fun."
Among McFarlane’s recent commercial credits are several spots—"Ferry," "Grand Drive" and "Billboard"—for the 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser via FCB Worldwide, Southfield, Mich. He also helmed two Starbucks spots—"Recycling" and "Disappearing"—for Fallon, Minneapolis. "Recycling" has been shown theatrically across the country, and both ads have aired in test markets and are planned for a broader launch.
A native of Australia, McFarlane started his career as editor and director of Australian music videos, and, in 1991, joined now defunct Meaningful Eye Contact, the Sydney-based shop formerly owned by director Alex Proyas (who is repped by bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures).
A spot for Air New Zealand provided a big break for McFarlane, who told SHOOT that the ad garnered a lot of notice and led to his representation in the U.K. by Limelight Films, London, in ’93. Three years later, he joined the fledgling Palomar Pictures, Los Angeles, which was founded in ’96 by former Limelight USA executive producer Jonathon Ker.
"Palomar was just starting out, so that was exciting," said McFarlane. "I had a good time there. I got to do lots of interesting work, including some Nike stuff. I’m very proud of my music videos at that time. Anne-Marie Mackay was running the music video division, and she was very good. She got me some very good videos that were very influential at the time"—including one of his first Palomar assignments: "Mary Jane’s Last Dance" for Tom Petty, which won a 1994 MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video.
Other McFarlane-helmed clips are "If It Makes You Happy" for Sheryl Crow; "Put Yourself in My Place" for Kylie Minogue; and the Janet Jackson clips "Twenty Fourplay," "You Want This" and "Anytime, Anyplace."
McFarlane fortified his reputation for bold, graphically driven visuals in commercials. Among his noteworthy directorial credits is an L.A. Cellular spot "Soup" for BBDO West, Los Angeles, that helped the agency win a 1997 Belding Award in the complete campaign category. Other spot highlights include those for Acer Computers via Hal Riney & Partners (now Publicis & Hal Riney), San Francisco; Honda via Rubin Postaer and Associates, Santa Monica; and Nike via Wieden+ Kennedy, Portland, Ore., as well as ads for Sega, Sprint, Mercedes, BMW, MCI and the Washington Post.
Besides McFarlane, MJZ’s roster comprises directors/company partners Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, as well as helmers Marcus Nispel, Carlton Chase, Craig Gillespie, Jonathan David, Tom DeCerchio, Victor Garcia, Sean Thonson, Irv Blitz, Kieran Walsh and Bob Richardson.
At MJZ, McFarlane will be repped by Tim Merjos on the East Coast, by Steven Monkarsh and Elizabeth Newton on the West Coast, and by Gay Guthrey in the Midwest. McFarlane will also continue his affiliation with Toronto-based Radke Films, for Canadian-originated spots.
