The Los Angeles Creative Club screened some 75 spec commercials during an evening event it held last month in Los Angeles. More than half of the work came out of Group101Spots, a filmmaking collective that challenges its members to direct a spec spot a month for six months.
As earlier reported, Group101 has helped launch several directorial careers since its formation last year (SHOOT, 9/26/03, p. 7). Its freshman class included Larry Shanet (a.k.a. Kranky) who is now with X-Ray Productions, a division of Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago; and Ted Melfi who came aboard Area 51 Films, Santa Monica, in October. Group101 was founded by art director/graphic designer/aspiring commercial director Dina Mande. The group holds workshops, provides mentoring, gets collaborative help and discounts from several post houses, facilitates the sharing of ideas, resources and honest feedback among fledgling directors, and helps to bring helmers together with quality scripts for spec fare.
Helping to advance the latter was Group101’s involvement in the Los Angeles Creative Club session, which fostered a dialogue between directors and agency creatives. Some ad folks brought spec scripts in search of a director. Conversely, directors in attendance were definitely in the market for high-quality concepts to help showcase their filmmaking prowess.
The Los Angeles Creative Club is a nonprofit organization of copywriters, art directors, producers and designers from the advertising, graphic design, entertainment and Web worlds. The club’s charter mission is to help creatives get more work, to do better work and/or to get better doing more work. The organization’s motto is simply, "It’s all about the work."
The spec event, which drew 70-plus people, was in line with that motto. The evening offered networking opportunities designed to help creatives improve their reels via spec work. And the Los Angeles Creative Club is looking to stage more events that will help its members strengthen their reels, portfolios and ultimately their careers.
Annual Los Angeles Creative Club dues are $100 per member—but that has been discounted to $75 for the time being as part of a membership drive. All income goes right back into Creative Club programs, which are put together by an all-volunteer team. For info, check out the organization’s Web site (www. lacreativeclub.com).
The hope is that the link established between Group101 and the Los Angeles Creative Club will translate into ongoing relationships between individual members of the two organizations. This could lead to more scripts being generated for promising helmers—and viable work that can showcase not only directorial talent, but also the creative wherewithal of up-and-coming—as well as established—writers and art directors.
Just one relationship can open up avenues that help to advance careers. For example, freelance creative/copywriter Jeff Nicosia has been a regular contributor to Group101 and has teamed with Mande to solidify the organization. He offers Group101 class members mentoring, and has solicited quality scripts from his friends and colleagues in the ad business.
Group101Spots is modeled after its older sibling, Group101Films—a collective geared toward helping aspiring directors make short films—which Mande and five other industry professionals co-founded in 2000. Group101Films has held screenings that played to full houses in Los Angeles. Regional chapters have sprouted across the country and at international outposts.
Participants accepted into Group101Spots can build a spec reel that reflects their talent and storytelling sensibilities. Most importantly, that reel can help them in the real world, eliciting interest from the production company and agency communities. For info, visit www.group101spots.com.
