Original Film, Los Angeles, and New York Office, New York, have entered into a strategic alliance which extends the bicoastal reach of both companies. The ensemble of New York Office directors gains a production foothold in Southern California, with spots being executive produced by Original founder Bruce Mellon. Additionally, New York Office executive producer Cathy Pellow is relocating to Los Angeles to work out of the Original headquarters, where she will head up an ongoing music video operation in tandem with Original’s executive producer/head of production Eriks Krumins. Pellow will serve as executive producer/head of sales for music clips.
Meanwhile, Original maintains its presence in New York, getting spot representation on the East Coast and in the Midwest from New York Office’s head of sales Carolyn Hill. Previously, Original had its own Manhattan office but Mellon began to re-think that situation with the recent departure of managing director/head of marketing Carol Case, who has since reunited with director Bob Giraldi in a new venture, GSP4.
Mellon described the relationship with New York Office as being "a significant, cost-efficient way to stay bicoastal and pick up great representation."
Additional overhead is being saved, continued Mellon, with the recent folding of music video/spot shop Holiday into the Original operation. Mellon said that shuttering Holiday made sense, essentially bringing the music video component back into the Original infrastructure.
Original Film’s directorial roster includes Gavin Bowden who comes over from Holiday; John Huba; Milan-based Luca Maroni; and several feature filmmakers who are available for spots such as Rob Cohen (The Skulls, Dragonheart), Larry Clark (Kids) and Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, GoldenEye). Original also said it maintains a nonexclusive relationship with another Milan-based helmer, Federico Brugia. (GSP4 also handles Brugia for select projects.)
The contingent of New York Office directors consists of Europe-based Jean Pierre Roux, Jan Houllevigue, Othmar Sweers and director/DP Serge Roman. Hill handles both the Original and New York Office directors on the East Coast and in the Midwest. However, the two companies maintain separate representation arrangements with independents on the West Coast; Ellen Knable & Associates handles the New York Office directors out West, and Char & Associates covers that territory for the Original directors. (Hill additionally represents director Peter Martinez of recently launched New York house Urban Myth Media in the Midwest and, for the interim, on the West Coast.)
New York Office also continues its management division under the aegis of VP Julianne Hausler. With a bicoastal support staff, Hausler handles a coterie of DPs, production designers, costume designers, editors and feature film writers. The roster includes: Steve Chivers who shoots regularly for director Daniel Barber of Striper Films, New York; the aforementioned Roman who lensed the currently airing Infiniti work directed by Nico Beyer of New York-headquartered Compass Films for TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles; and Olivier Cocaul, who shot Electronic Data Systems’ "Cat Herders" directed by John O’ Hagan of bicoastal/international hungry man for Fallon, Minneapolis.
Original Film remains active in theatrical movies via company partner Neal Moritz, a feature producer whose credits include The Skulls, which is currently playing in theaters, and such youth appeal films as Urban Legend, Cruel Intentions and I Know What You Did Last Summer, a teen thriller with a $15 million budget that went on to gross $75 million in the domestic box office.
