Bicoastal/international Partizan has signed director Aaron Priest in what marks the helmer’s first commercial representation deal.
For the past three years, Priest and former partner Robert Martin headed the now-closed agency The Monkey Brothers, which supplied casting for such directors as Kinka Usher, Santa Monica-based House of Usher Films; Christopher Guest, bicoastal Moxie Pictures; and Phil Morrison, bicoastal Epoch Films, among others. Martin is also pursing directing, and is said to be in discussions with several companies.
Priest was signed to Partizan on the strength of a spec reel he directed and an independent film that he wrote and co-directed with Martin. Titled Hip, Edgy, Sexy, Cool, it was completed last year. Hip, which has been submitted to the Sundance and Slamdance Film Festivals, is a mockumentary spoofing the commercial casting process and the spot industry.
Partizan’s West Coast rep Michael DiGirolamo said that Partizan was initially introduced to Priest when The Monkey Brothers cast some Energizer spots out of TBWA Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, that were helmed by Traktor, which is repped by Partizan.
During this past summer’s SAG strike, Priest and Martin opted to close The Monkey Brothers. During that period, Priest assembled his spec reel. "We’ve always had our eye on him just because he does such amazing casting," said DiGirolamo. "He’d started showing his reel to different production companies, and we thought, ‘This is great.’ He understands casting like no one else, and he’s got a really great comedic sensibility."
Since he is starting out with a spec reel, introducing Priest to agencies will take time, DiGirolamo noted. He added that he has approached ad shops that Priest worked with as part of The Monkey Brothers, hoping that those firms will provide an opportunity for the new director to work on low-budget comedy spots.
According to Priest, he was sold on Partizan based largely on his affinity for president/partner Stephen Dickstein. During a face-to-face meeting with Dickstein and DiGirolamo, Priest recalled, he found himself impressed with Dickstein’s grasp of storytelling.
"During the conversation, we launched into talking about movies more than anything else," said Priest. "He’s just so bright, and I knew he would get me and what I wanted to do, be it shorter- or longer-form storytelling. He’s so insightful. … I felt I had someone I could really talk to."
Among Priest’s spec spots is "Strap" for Volkswagen, which opens on a young couple driving home one night from a formal event. After discovering his date is asleep, the young man attempts to get a shoulder strap on her dress to slip down—using the momentum of the car generated by turning corners. He wasn’t aiming for a lascivious tone, explained Priest, who instead attempted to focus on the subtly romantic moment "… where the mere sight of her bare shoulder sends him to heaven."
Other spots on the reel are wilder, such as "Focus," a Budweiser ad that Priest describes as "extremely juvenile," and "German Pie" for Volkswagen, a cheeky take on American Pie. The reel is also comprised of "Easy" for Yahoo and "Privacy" for American Express.
Priest said he’s been most influenced by the aforementioned Usher, whom he admires for diversity and work ethic, and Guest, whose deadpan sense of humor has been an inspiration for Priest’s own style of performance-driven comedy.
"As a casting director," noted Priest, "you have to step into the mind of a particular director and, as you grow to know them, you know what their style is and what they think is funny. It’s been a tremendous exercise to observe that. Obviously I have a love of the absurd, and my own ideas about what is funny, which are based in real people in circumstances of juxtaposition, and a love of exploring the odd quirks we all have."
In addition to DiGirolamo on the West Coast, Partizan is represented on the East Coast and in Detroit by New York-based Geren Lockhart.
