A few years ago, goofy gags, exaggerated characters and wacky storyboards had Billy Kent’s name written all over them. Kent still directs comedic spots, but is now known for character-driven and reality-based fare.
"When I started out, I became good at slapstick. It got to the point where I could do it in my sleep," says Kent, who works out of Crash Films, Santa Monica. "Now it’s more about the people than it is about the gags and effects. I wanted to be challenged by doing subtler, dryer, more character-driven spots."
Kent’s new approach is on display in Infoseek’s "CIA" via Ingalls-Moranville Advertising, San Francisco, in which scary government agents try to strong-arm a frightened man who knows too much. As it turns out, the guy’s not a spy-he’s simply been using the right search engine. Other spots in the Infoseek package include "Aliens" and "Psychic Powers."
Kent recently directed a quirky five-spot campaign for Washington Apples via McCann-Erickson, Seattle. In the ads, a do-gooder on a motorbike delivers the fresh, crunchy fruit to grateful people in need of an energy boost. For instance, in "Hikers," two hikers are too weak to continue on their trail, until Apple Guy receives their exhaustion signal and brings them apples.
The Apple Guy brings to mind another of Kent’s more offbeat spots-IKEA’s "Shopping Cart Chair," also via McCann-Erickson, in which a demented, vaguely Teutonic man in hot pants demonstrates the various functions of his one-of-a-kind furniture purchase. Like the Apple Guy, the chair-lover casts himself as the dynamic hero of some private adventure; both are enthralled with themselves.
The Right Look
"To really succeed at comedy, people have to have an emotional attachment to what’s going on," says Kent. "I want to be able to pull the audience in and have them feel something."
The casting, Kent explains, is a significant part of getting the desired emotional response. "I spend a lot of time trying to find the right person. I believe that all projects live or die by the casting," he says. "Getting the right person to bring forth the core of the emotional idea-whether that’s a great actor or the face of somebody we can relate to-is essential."
The success of Kent’s Washington Apples campaign rested on the choice of the ideal Apple Guy. "The agency did a good thing to spend more money on real talent," Kent says. "Greg Pitts is an amazingly good actor; he is the Apple Guy. His personal sense of humor comes through to make the spots charming, not dopey and saccharine."
Kent says his favorite spot is "Office," which begins with Apple Guy aboard his scooter. After his radar detector indicates an emergency, there’s a cut to a busy office where one worker is nearly passed out under his desk. The Apple Guy zooms to the building, avoiding several near-death encounters on his way. He races up the elevator, delivers a set of twins, and arrives at the sleepy worker’s desk with an apple. The slacker takes one bite, perks right up, and heartily thanks the Apple Guy. The hero’s response: "My pleasure, worker bee!"
"The charm of the spot is brought out by the performances," Kent says. "The other spots are good and entertaining, but they don’t bring you into the people as much because they’ve got the effects and they’re more about the gags."
After the Apple spots, Kent says he took the month of January off from shooting to finish writing a screenplay with his wife, Sarah Bird, and Adam Wierzbianski. The finished script, called The Deep End, is about a 33-year-old Cleveland woman who’s on a quest to have an orgasm. "It’s all about telling the stories of people’s lives through sex," he says. "Not 91/2 Weeks sex-real-life sex."
Kent says he and his writing partners are now exploring their options on how to get the screenplay produced. "It’s not always fun to be on the hunt and pestering people for money," he says. "But I’m excited about it this time, because I’m really excited about this project."
This is not Kent’s first experience with a feature film. He wrote the screenplay for Love is for Lovers, which was optioned by Open City Films, New York. After graduating from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Kent continued his education in the directing program at the American Film Institute, Hollywood. Kent has also directed short films, including one called Egg Salad, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
"I like to rejuvenate my advertising career by doing films," says Kent. "I love working in advertising, but there’s got to be some sort of balance or you get in the mindset of ‘this is all I do.’ I’ve never thought of myself solely as a commercial director. When someone comes up to me and asks what I do, I say I’m a filmmaker."
"No matter what the project is you’re the imagineer," he says. "Sometimes I do more than just direct the commercial. I’ve been in situations where I’ve written creative. I’m more than happy to jump in there and write copy and dialogue. Still, I completely respect the copywriter and his or her project. I don’t know any director that can say his spots were all his ideas.
"Part of being a director is your ability to hone in and harness what is the best [for the] ad and bring it forth," Kent says. "It’s my job to take the best pieces of what everybody brings to the party.
"Everything is an evolving process," he continues. "Even if I work on movies for the next twenty years, I’ll still do commercials because I love them."c
