Commercial director Glen Owen has teamed with partner/executive producer Dirk Detweiler to launch Venice-based production company Storyville Pictures.
Owen, a partner in the new venture, was most recently represented by Wall to Wall Films, New York. His former roost is undergoing some restructuring following the decision by Paul McCarthy and Eric Calderon, former partners/executive producers at Wall to Wall, to split from the company’s investment partner Multi-Video Group (MVG), New York, and form a production house called MC2. (SHOOT, 11/17/00, p. 7). Owen said that he has always wanted his own company, so when Detweiler approached him late last year with the idea of opening Storyville, he felt the timing was right. Storyville is expected to represent an additional three directors within the year.
The two men first met five years ago, when Detweiler produced a job for Owen who at the time was represented by Fireside Films, Atlanta. Detweiler has worked as a freelance producer since 1989, and they have collaborated several times since.
"There has always been good chemistry between us, and we have had a lot of success," said Owen. "The jobs were always well organized and smoothly run. Dirk keeps a calm head during stressful times—something you definitely need while directing—and he loves what he does. A combination of all those qualities makes him an attractive business partner."
Detweiler got his start in the filmmaking industry working on documentaries and industrials at a now defunct company called Oglesby Harden Studios, Atlanta. In the early ’80s, when Rod Paul, one of the owners, left to start his own business—Rod Paul Productions, Atlanta—Detweiler joined him as an assistant. Over the next nine years, Detweiler took various roles within the firm, such as looking after the camera equipment and working as a production coordinator. (The company has since been renamed Primary Pictures.) He then went freelance as a producer of commercials and music videos. Recent credits are for clients including The Weather Channel, STP Premium Fuel Injector Cleaner, Disney TV and Turner Creative Services.
Owen broke into directing at Cable Advertising Metro, Atlanta, working there ’90-’92. He then left to become a freelance writer/producer, picking up assignments at TBS, TNT and local Atlanta TV stations, while continuing to build his commercial reel. In ’95, TNT commissioned him to write and direct its NFL image campaign "Don’t Miss a Game." Prior to joining Wall to Wall, he was represented by Fireside Films (SHOOT, 6/16/00, p. 10). While at Wall to Wall, Owen—who remains an Atlanta resident—worked on campaigns for clients including the Milwaukee Bucks and STP Premium Fuel Injector Cleaner.
Storyville Pictures will be repped by Doug Wedeck and Heidi Gottlieb of Single Bid, New York, on the East Coast; Jay Anderson in the Midwest; and Joanne Madden of Madden & Associates, San Francisco, on the West Coast.
