In a surprising development–both to would-be handicappers and to the winner himself–Peter Thwaites of Gorgeous Enterprises, London (who’s repped stateside by bicoastal Anonymous Content), received the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award as Best Commercial Director of 2008.
When he was announced as being the winner during the DGA Awards gala on Saturday (1/31) in Los Angeles, Thwaites came on stage and said he hadn’t prepared an acceptance speech. “I’m very surprised,” related Thwaites who noted that he is “so amazed” by the work of his fellow nominees that “being here in their place humbles me to a great degree. I’m very grateful. Thank you very much.”
While Thwaites sounded a bit stunned, his nominated work was stunning enough to win over DGA judges. Thwaites earned the Guild honor on the strength of two entries: Barclaycard’s “Water Slide” for BBH London, and Guinness’ “Light Show” out of Irish International BBDO, Dublin.
The former shows a swim trunks-clad employee taking a wondrous amusement park-like commute home from the office–his mode of transportation being an enormous waterslide that winds its way throughout the city all the way to his suburban abode. Along the way he slip slides through a grocery store where he buys a banana which he pays for by sliding his Barclaycard past a sensor. He is able to use the card repeatedly without slowing down his slide home.
“From a directing point of view, the spot was a huge balancing act,” related Thwaites. “The key was balancing elements of postproduction and live action and trying to make something so technical be true to a human narrative storyline that connects with people. That’s always the hardest thing for a director who serves as a balancing force, and overseer and creative force on this kind of project. The director has to keep his eye on the ball, making sure you stay true to the simple idea. I felt sort of a ringleader with so many post people [from The Mill, London] involved.
Guinness’ “Light Show” also entailed collaboration with The Mill. “The idea was an office building being a pint of Guinness as reflected in the configuration of lights that are on inside the building,” said Thwaites. “Again for me it’s important within this essentially visual piece to keep a narrative flow by managing the scale of the job and keeping the ultimate focus on the simplicity of the idea.”
First-time DGA Award nominee Thwaites topped a field of nominated spot directors that included Anonymous Content’s David Fincher, a past winner of the DGA commercials honor (as the top spot helmer of ’03) and twice a commercial director of the year nominee. (Fincher was also nominated this year for the feature film DGA Award on the basis of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; the DGA Award for best feature helmer ultimately went to Danny Boyle for Slum Dog Millionaire).
Rounding out this year’s DGA spotmaking nominees was a trio of directors from bicoastal/international MJZ: Fredrik Bond who’s been nominated for the honor three times during his career; and Tom Kuntz and Rupert Sanders, who have each received two career nominations.
Thwaites’ win breaks a streak of three consecutive years in which an MJZ director won the DGA spot honor. Nicolai Fuglsig was best commercial director of ’07, Dante Ariola earned top spot helmer distinction in ’06, and Craig Gillespie took the ’05 honor.
“Se7en” Turns 30, Gets A Special Restoration From David Fincher For Its Re-Release
For David Fincher, seeing “Se7en” in 4K was an experience he can only describe as harrowing. That or a high school reunion.
“There are definitely moments that you go, ‘What was I thinking?’ Or ‘Why did I let this person have that hairdo’?” Fincher said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
He’s OK with the film being a product of its time in most respects. But some things just could not stand in high-definition resolution.
“It was a little decrepit, to be honest,” said Fincher. “We needed to resuscitate it. There are things you can see in 4K HDR that you cannot see on a film print.”
Ever the perfectionist, he and a team got to work on a new restoration of the film for its 30th anniversary re-release. This weekend the restored “Se7en” will play on IMAX screens for the first time in the U.S. and Canada, and on Jan. 7, the 4K UHD home video version will be available as well.
The dark crime thriller written by Andrew Kevin Walker and starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as a pair of detectives looking for a serial killer was somewhat of a career-reviver for Fincher, whose directorial debut “Alien 3” had not gone well. “Se7en” was not a sure thing: It was made for only $34 million (and only got that when Fincher managed to persuade studio execs to give up $3 million more). But it went on to earn more than $327 million, not accounting for inflation, and continues to influence the genre.
Fincher has over the years overseen several restorations of the film (including one for laser disc) but decided this needed to be the last. It’s why he insisted on an 8K scan that they could derive the 4K from. He wanted to ensure that it wouldn’t have to be repeated when screens get more... Read More