Toronto-based director Richard D’Alessio has departed A Band Apart Commercials, Los Angeles, to join Shooting Gallery Productions (SGP) a spot/music video production division of New York-headquartered independent film studio The Shooting Gallery.
SGP will provide exclusive stateside representation for D’Alessio, who maintains his nine-year-old affiliation for Canadian commercial work with Toronto-based Imported Artists, which is headed by executive producer Christina Ford. D’Alessio also continues to be partnered in Toronto-based Clarence Square Pictures, a production company he formed a few years ago to develop longform projects; other company partners are Imported Artists’ Ford (who is married to D’Alessio) and producer Jeffrey Berman.
SGP president/executive producer Tim Clawson related that D’Alessio, whom he’d met through mutual friends, fits in well with the company’s emphasis on multiple disciplines. "Richard is a total filmmaker," said Clawson. "He’s been making documentary and short-subject [films] for a number of years, in addition to his commercial work. And he’s also been fairly active in developing content for the Internet, which is an area we’re extremely high on. We’re big believers that our commercial directors will be suppliers of that content—in advertising as well as other forms of traditional media—that will find its way onto the Web."
"There’s going to be a major convergence of advertising and entertainment in the next five years," said D’Alessio, "and these guys have positioned themselves to be one of the companies leading the charge. For me, that’s what the biggest attraction was. Because I do short films and documentaries aside from commercial work, I already see where a lot of these things are going to start changing. At Shooting Gallery, they’re really building a model of what an independent studio of the future is going to be like."
Moreover, D’Alessio said that the fact that Shooting Gallery has a Toronto-based production/postproduction facility, Gun For Hire, was also of interest to him. Clawson also serves as executive VP of Gun For Hire, which has additional bases in New York, Miami Beach and Vancouver, B.C.
Oh Canada!
Originally from New York, D’Alessio moved to Toronto in ’91. He had joined A Band Apart four years ago (SHOOT, 3/22/96, p.1); before that, he had U.S. affiliations with bicoastal The End and bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures.
The director said that in years past, his spot work had been predominantly from Canada. One notable assignment was a series of comedic Kellogg’s Special K spots via Leo Burnett Co., Toronto, including "Resolutions," in which macho, burly guys at a bar obsess about the size of their thighs and other typically female weight and body image concerns. Although it originated in Canada, the campaign ultimately earned worldwide exposure, said D’Alessio.
"I’m really fortunate; I get to do quite a bit of really good work up here," he said. "I’ve been selective about the work I wanted to do in the States. But in the last year, I’ve been able to even it out to about half and half." Among his regular American clients is DDB Chicago, for which he’s directed a number of Anheuser-Busch projects: The recent spot "Check I.D.," which incorporated a storyline à la The Graduate to promote Budweiser’s responsible drinking campaign, and two Bud Light spots, "Friction" and "Art Class."
The director also recently helmed several U.S.-aired spots for Mamma.com, an Internet meta-search engine via Toronto-based agency Exit. He is in production on a campaign for Ford Motor Co. via Young & Rubicam, Toronto, which is being produced by Imported Artists.
Assessing D’Alessio’s spot work as "extremely memorable," Clawson said he strongly identifies with the director’s commercial fare. "He’s a narrative storyteller," said Clawson. "He gets the point across through the art and craft of filmmaking. His stuff leaves you with a smile; I think that’s why it has such a lasting effect on an audience. Oftentimes, the situations may be a little on the absurd side, but they’re not that far out that we don’t relate to them in real life."
Among the short films D’Alessio has directed are Seven Gates (’97), a Kafka-esque story about two brothers coming home for Christmas, and The Dane (’98), a seven-minute adaptation of Hamlet performed in a contemporary setting. D’Alessio is currently editing a documentary he helmed called Back To Zero, which chronicles the recovery of four former heroin addicts.
D’Alessio joins a SGP directorial roster comprised of Carlton Chase and Spooner/French (the co-directing team of Nick Spooner and Andrew French). The company’s national and East Coast sales are provided by New York- and Minneapolis-based Help!, whose partners are Mary Knox and Alyson Daniels. Chicago-based Rich Newman Associates covers the Midwest, and Santa Monica-based S&W, comprised of Susan Bennett and Whitney Kiley, handles West Coast sales. SGP has also just inked a deal for Canadian representation with Imported Artists.
