I’ve always dealt in partnerships," says Clay Williams, who directs spots out of bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ). Until a few months ago, Williams and Chuck Bennett were the directing duo Chuck & Clay, who helmed spots via Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago. (Bennett now directs solo through Crossroads.)
"I grew up with my twin sister, and Chuck and I were partners for about nine years," notes Williams. "I like working in partnerships and I find that working on my own as a director allows me to have partnerships with other people—the DP, my producer, the agency folks—that maybe I didn’t fully explore when we were a directing team. It’s not like I’m off on my own; I’m just exploring partnerships with other people."
He notes that his directorial style is still evolving. "I want my work to become more subtle," says Williams. "Some of my earlier stuff working in partnership was more reliant on camera trickery to make sure that the humor played. The more experience I get, the more subtle and the smarter the work is getting.
"The kind of work that I admire has a cinematic confidence that I think I’m moving toward," he continues. "I like the chance to work with good actors and make the commercial happen through the performance and make the camera work service that."
Williams feels that "Dealer Involvement," a National Automobile Dealers Association spot he co-directed with Bennett, via Young & Rubicam, New York, displays the nuanced approach he has continued to refine in his solo work. (Chuck & Clay helmed the ad towards the end of their collaboration.)
The ad affectionately depicts car dealers hanging out at a down-home event featuring baked goods and children’s rides. Even when these likable guys casually chat with various kids, the community-minded gentlemen are unmistakably car salesmen. The kids barely respond to the dealers, which adds to the spot’s low-key humor. For instance, one dealer greets a kid walking by with his bike, by saying. "What is that? ’74?" In a moment of visual deadpan, the kid just keeps moving. The ad’s tag: The National Automobile Dealers Association. Part of your home team."
Williams says that the ad is indicative of the "the direction I’m trying to go—it’s not broad. Because the situation was ridiculous, it didn’t need pushing in execution in order to be funny …
"The performances are pretty much underplayed," he continues. "It already has the stereotype of the lingo so I didn’t think we needed to push it terms of overdoing the gold chain factor. We weren’t interested in creating a caricature of the car dealer; we were trying to depict the car dealers as real people. There was chance to [portray] both the stereotype of the car dealer, through the dialogue, and also play it very realistically so that hopefully people can relate to it a little more."
The director’s recent jobs continue to reflect realistic characters in absurd situations. For example, in "Moo Cow Milker," for Ikea, out of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami, a man and a woman are passionately embracing, eventually making out on the dining room table. The female half of the duo spies a rather tacky cow creamer, which she subsequently sweeps to the floor, where it breaks. A strange Swedish man appears outside the house, and notes that feeling sorry for the cow is crazy, as there are great knick-knacks to be found at Ikea.
Other recent Williams-helmed spots include Wheat Thins Crispy Thins’ "We Tried Everything," "Chackers" and "Crispy" via J Walter Thompson, New York; and Dinty Moore’s "Rock Star," out of BBDO Minneapolis.
Agency Direction
Williams and Bennett began collaborating a decade ago when the pair teamed up as copywriter (Williams) and art director (Bennett) at now defunct agency Stein Robaire Helm. The duo later joined TBWA/ Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, where they eventually became managing partners/creative directors. While still at the agency, they began directing select spots for TBWA/Chiat/Day clients. In June of 2000, they left the agency to begin directing full time, joining Crossroads later that year.
Williams believes his background as an agency copywriter has served him well as a director. "Growing up as a writer, you’re the person who is responsible for the idea," explains Williams. "I see that as my primary responsibility as a director—to protect the idea, to make the idea as good as it can be, to execute it as truly as I can."
Why did Williams decide to go solo? "If you look at most directing teams, they tend, at some point in their careers, to start directing independently," he notes. "For me, it’s a one-person job."
Williams is quick to point out that the decision to part ways with Bennett was amicable. "[The split] wasn’t predicated on any kind of disagreement," he says. "I think that being a director is about articulating a vision, and that, by definition, is singular. Once I gained enough experience to have confidence that I knew what I was doing, it was time to branch off and do it myself."n
