@radical. media-with offices in New York, Santa Monica, London, Sydney and Paris-has broadened its global and creative reach, entering into an association with Zentropa Production, the Copenhagen house founded eight years ago by Danish director Lars von Trier and his business partner Peter Aalbaek Jensen.
The arrangement links two Palme d’Or recipients, albeit in different disciplines, spots and features. @Radical.media topped the Cannes International Advertising Festival in ’98 as the best commercial production company. And von Trier’s work has been repeatedly recognized at The Cannes Film Festival, the latest honors being the Palme d’Or for best film which was bestowed last month upon his dramatic musical, Dancer in the Dark, starring Icelandic pop star Bjork, who also earned best actress distinction at Cannes. Dancer in the Dark is reportedly slated for U.S. release by Fine Line Features.
The joint venture with @radical.media signals Zentropa’s stepped up commitment to spotmaking. The company has opened up a separate division, Zentropa Commericals, headed by Jes Hage Thomsen and Therese Oliver.
Jon Kamen and Frank Scherma, @radical.media’s partners/ proprietors, said the relationship with Zentropa goes beyond gaining an ensemble of international directors, including von Trier, for worldwide commercial representation, and @radical picking up Scandinavian representation for its helmers. Kamen noted that Zentropa is Scan-dinavia’s leading filmmaking enterprise, best known for nurturing unconventional projects and regarded by many as being among the industry’s richest veins of directorial talent. He reasoned that as a creative influence, Zentropa will be a positive stimulus that @radical.media-and potentially some select clients-can tap into.
Von Trier’s feature filmography as a director includes Europa, The Idiots and the Cannes Grand Prix-winning Breaking the Waves. He has executive produced and/or directed hit Scandinavian TV series. And according to Kamen, von Trier also has a smattering of Scandinavian commercials among his directorial credits.
Von Trier gained his first notoriety with the ’84 film Furbrydelsens Element, which showcased yellow-tinted monochrome cinematography pierced by shafts of blue light. Europa (entitled Zentropa in the U.S.) teamed him with Jensen; the two shortly thereafter partnered to launch Zentropa. Arguably, Breaking the Waves is von Trier’s best known film. And The Idiots made its U.S. debut this past April, two years after premiering at Cannes.
The Idiots is in the low-tech tradition of Dogma ’95, a movement von Trier founded with other filmmakers in Scandi-navia, including Thomas Vinterberg who maintains Copenhagen studio Nimbus Film Company, a satellite of Zentropa. The filmmakers took a so-called "vow of chastity," committing themselves to, whenever possible, strip away Hollywood glitz-slick special effects, sophisticated lighting schemes, high-end cameras, audio-enhancing technologies and the like-from their movies. Vinterberg’s film The Celebration, another major Cannes winner, is cut from this cloth.
Vinterberg, who’s had some spot helming experience, and von Trier are among the ensemble of directors at Zentropa Commercials that @radical.media will handle worldwide, with the exception of Scandinavia. As SHOOT went to press, Kamen wasn’t yet at liberty to discuss the other Zentropa directors that @radical.media will represent for spots; he was in the process of talking with them and finalizing details. Also at press time, SHOOT was unable to connect with Zentropa partner Jensen.
Kamen and Scherma said that, in some respects, the relationship with Zentropa encompasses more than just that company. Kamen related that von Trier has been the catalyst behind the formation of Copenhagen’s Filmbyen, or Film City, a production complex in which different filmmakers and companies have come together. "In a sense, we [@radical.media] are a conduit through which that film community will gain exposure in the U.S. and internationally," related Scherma.
