Positive reinforcement in varied forms came right before, during and after SHOOT’s fourth annual New Directors Showcase event held last month (5/25) at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Theater in New York.
The most recent development was this week’s AICP Show, in which spots directed by two of the Showcase directors gained a total of three honors. Earning distinction in two AICP competition categories was the work of New Directors Showcase helmer Adam Goldstein of bicoastal/international RSA. The Goldstein-directed Freelance Union’s “Hospital” was honored in the spec spot category. Goldstein, who recently moved over from his creative director’s post at BBDO New York to pursue a full-time directorial career via RSA, also served as creative director on “Hospital.”
CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2006 NEW DIRECTORS ONLINE SHOWCASE REEL
Additionally, Goldstein scored in the copywriting category for the New York Homeless Coalition’s “Scaffold” from BBDO New York. Goldstein directed and teamed with Lauren Cohen to write the commercial, which was screened as part of SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase reel during the DGA Theater event.
Meanwhile honored in the AICP Show’s student commercial category was Mountain Dew’s “Foley” directed by the duo of Zack & J.C. (a.k.a. Zack Resnicoff and J.C. Khoury). “Foley” also was screened for the DGA Theater audience during the SHOOT proceedings.
SIGNINGS As for positive affirmation prior to the SHOOT event, news came that Zack & J.C. had signed with bicoastal/international @radical.media, a development announced by SHOOT editor Robert Goldrich right before moderating a panel discussion with several of the Showcase directors and a pair of ad agency artisans, Jennifer Golub, executive producer of TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco, and Peter Nicholson, executive creative director at J. Walter Thompson, New York.
Zack & J.C.’s signing came on the heels of Showcase director Brent Jones coming aboard Aero Film, Santa Monica. Even the absence of some directors at the SHOOT event was a good sign. Several of them had secured work and thus couldn’t attend. For example, Shyam Madiraju of V3, a division of bicoastal Anonymous Content, had planned to be on hand but at the eleventh hour wound up staying on the West Coast to work on a Fox Soccer Channel project.
SCREENING, PANEL SESSION Representing the DGA, director Laura Belsey welcomed the audience to the evening event. She in turn introduced SHOOT publisher Roberta Griefer who kicked off the proceedings, providing an overview of the marketplace for new directorial talent.
As for the positive vibe at the event itself, for one the DGA Theater was filled to capacity, drawing a cross-section of attendees spanning the production, agency and post sectors. The screening–which contained work from all 25 Showcase directors (including four two-person teams)–played to a warm reception and frequent applause. Many of the directors were present, with five of them serving as panelists: Goldstein; J.C.; Lena Beug of Reginald Pike, Toronto, and its Reginaldo division in the U.S.; John Immesoete of Backyard Productions, Venice, Calif.; and Corey Creasey, half of the Terri Timely duo (the other half being Ian Kibbey) represented by Crossroads Films, bicoastal, Chicago and London.
The directors discussed their backgrounds and in some cases strategies for gaining exposure and establishing themselves as helmers. Two of the panelists had extensive experience as agency creatives: John Immesoete who was a group creative director at DDB Chicago prior to joining Backyard, and the aforementioned Goldstein. Beug got her start in the on-air design department at MTV in New York, while Creasey and J.C. met their respective directorial partners, Kibbey and Zack, in college. Kibbey and Creasey got to know each other at the University of California, Berkeley, where they individually made short films and then came together to collaborate on music videos. Zack and J.C. first rendezvoused at the NYU graduate film program and have been working together ever since.
Both JWT’s Nicholson and TBWA/Chiat/Day’s Golub regard spec work as a viable means for new directors to demonstrate their talent. However, Golub advised aspiring directors to seek out good spec concepts. This, she said, entails directors proactively pursuing agency creatives for ideas and scripts that didn’t get produced for whatever reason.
With more than traditional commercials on his plate, Nicholson noted that he also looks for directorial potential in longer form fare on such platforms as the Web, iPods, PDAs and mobile phones. He related that many established directors pass on new media because the monetary recompense isn’t as great for their services as in mainstream commercialmaking. This, said Nicholson, opens up opportunities for eager, up-and-coming directors.
Golub urged the industry at large to cultivate opportunities across the board, including for women directors of which there is a shortage. She stressed that the commercialmaking community should mentor interns, seek out women and minorities for all walks of the business ranging from agencies to camera departments to crewing. “That’s where people come from and move up the ranks to director and other positions of influence,” said Golub. “If we encourage young talent, hopefully some years from now we won’t have to again have a discussion as to why there are so few women directors. We all need to mentor talent and open up opportunities.”
Panelists also fielded questions from the audience, including a follow-up query on spec spots and if it’s important for agency creatives to know if the director also came up with the concept. Nicholson said he would definitely want to know if the director was also the creative on a piece because “it let’s me know where his or her head is at.”
Former agency artisan Goldstein agreed but at the same time noted that it makes the most sense for directors to seek out spec work conceptualized by others. “That’s what the process is about–directors working with other people’s ideas,” said Goldstein. “So that’s the better test for a director because it mirrors what he would encounter in the real world.”
CLICK HERE TO VIEW 2006 NEW DIRECTORS ONLINE SHOWCASE REEL
