Ritts/Hayden, the Los Angeles-based production house headed by executive producer Bill Hayden, has signed director/cameraman Iain Mackenzie for representation in the U.S. spot market.
Mackenzie’s first assignment via Ritts/Hayden will be three spots for food distributor Cargill, out of Martin/Williams, Minneapolis. The trio of :60s will shoot on location in various parts of the world.
Mackenzie comes over to Ritts/Hayden from bicoastal Piper Productions, which represented him stateside for the past four years. His final assignment there was an ad for satellite telecommunications firm Globalstar, out of Grey, New York. Filmed in China, Libya, New Zealand and the Czech Republic, among other countries, the ad shows people of various cultures connecting from remote locations via wireless telephones.
Most recently the director wrapped a six-month assignment for QANTAS airlines, which was produced by his own company, Sydney-based Blindfold Pictures. Created by Singleton, Ogilvy & Mather, Sydney, and filmed at various cultural landmarks around the world, including Australia’s famous Ayers rock, the campaign consisted of a two-minute spot and three :60s featuring a youth choir singing "I Still Call Australia Home." The campaign aired during the U.S. and Australian broadcasts of the Olympics.
The QANTAS job also proved pivotal to Mackenzie’s relationship with Ritts/Hayden, as that company produced a portion of the shoot that was filmed in New York.
Hayden said he was attracted to the "humanity" in Mackenzie’s work, adding that the director/cameraman "shoots beautiful film." The executive producer continued: "The other thing that isn’t obvious on his reel is that his early work was very narrative. Lately he’s been doing mostly these epic visual pieces, but besides continuing to do that I’d like to see him also return to more narrative work. He has a very wide range."
Based in Sydney and France, Mackenzie continues to be repped in the U.K. by Union Commercials, London, and in Germany by HKF Film, Hamburg. In March, the director launched the aforementioned Blindfold, which is headed by executive producer Sam McGarry. Mackenzie had previously been repped in Australia by Window Productions, Surrey Hills, Australia, which he joined in 1991.
During his tenure at Window, Mackenzie directed ads for such clients as Volkswagen Passat, out of Foster Nunn Loveder, Sydney; Compaq via Euro RSCG Partnership, Sydney; and McDonald’s for DDB Sydney.
Born in Scotland, Mackenzie studied film at the Polytechnical Center of London (now the University of Westminster), and upon graduation took a job editing soccer match highlights for television in Zagreb. Returning to London, he worked various freelance crew positions in television and commercials before joining now defunct Studio Lambert as an assistant cameraman. During his five years there, he worked his way up to cameraman and eventually began directing promos for clients like the Singapore Army, among others. At Studio Lambert, he also directed a documentary-style PSA about the need to rebuild the war-torn city of Beirut.
In ’83, Mackenzie moved to Australia, and shortly thereafter formed his own entity, Commercial Picturemakers, Sydney. Through that company, he helmed such spots as "Dog’s Breakfast" for Chum dog food, out of the former ad agency Masius in Melbourne. During that time, Mackenzie also began directing via the Directors Studio in London. When that operation was shuttered in ’89, Mackenzie shifted over to Union.
Mackenzie joins a Ritts/ Hayden directorial roster that also includes partner/director Herb Ritts and directors Enda McCallion, Fritz Flieder, Daniel Kleinman, Antony Easton, Stuart Douglas, P. E. Goldman, Lance Kelleher, Sharon Maguire and Jon Hollis. Additionally, the company reps feature director Mike Figgis for spots.
Ritts/Hayden’s sales are handled by Holly Ross of Los Ang-eles-based Red on the West Coast; Rich Newman and Sue Rosen of Rich Newman & Associates, Chicago, in the Midwest; and Phillip Alden of New York-based Claire.Alden on the East Coast.
