The latest batch of up-and-coming directors chosen by SHOOT offers an eclectic mix. You’ve got one of the hottest music video directors working today, a graduate of one of the world’s most prestigious international diplomacy schools, a guy who dared to hand-deliver his spec reel to one of the industry’s top production companies, a twentysomething who has worked side by side with George Lucas, and a former ad agency creative whose first directing job found him working with an elderly man with a two-foot-long prosthetic penis. (More on that later.)
Without a doubt, each of these directors is unique in his approach to filmmaking and in his background, but all of them do share certain traits: the talent and drive to stand out in the increasingly competitive world of commercialmaking. Read on for the scoop on some of the star directors of tomorrow.
Jim Hosking
Like many helmers, Jim Hosking started out on the ad agency side of the business, working as a copywriter at London agencies, including HHCL and Mother. "Working as a copywriter I would feel frustrated that someone else was able to realize my ideas," he says, "and I decided I wasn’t going to be a copywriter all of my life."
Hosking, who is represented by bicoastal/international Partizan, says he got lots of inspiration from Hank Perlman, who is a partner/director at bicoastal/international hungry man. "Hank was a good friend of mine, and he really encouraged me because he used to be a creative at Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., and he made the switch," states Hosking. "It’s things like that that make you think, ‘I can do this.’ "
Intent on making the crossover, Hosking took the opportunity to direct a short film while he was at Mother—a film that the agency sent to a potential client to get attention. "It was a tour of the agency done by this old man with a two-foot-long prosthetic penis, but [the appendage] wasn’t referred to. It was a quite stupid film," Hosking laughs.
Some of his spot directing credits include two promotional campaigns for MTV, which were done through the cable network’s New York on-air promotions department. The first package, called "Crazy," was a series of ads in which a hapless executive is overwhelmed: He’s trying to figure out how to tell people in the U.K. that MTV offers the most exclusive music video premieres. His problem is outlined in "Intro," in which he rants and raves about how to get the message out in his office’s break room. In the subsequent promos, he is seen delivering the same speech to an old woman in a café and to a businessman walking down the street. Hosking’s other MTV campaign was called "Dragon," and promoted the MTV series Undressed. In "Possessive" and "Complicated" an older gentleman and a talking dragon puppet casually discuss the series in, respectively, a diner and a supermarket.
Humor appears to be Hosking’s forte. His reel includes some funny spots that he worked on as a copywriter while at Mother. In "Kung Fu," directed by Daniel Kleinman of Spectre, London, for Super Noodle, two guys face off in the kitchen and fight with Super Noodles as if they were the stars of a Kung Fu flick.
Another spot for Super Noodles, called "Wasted Away," also helmed by Kleinman, focuses on a couple. The guy is whining about being hungry. His girlfriend goes to get him something to eat. When she returns, his clothes are laid out on the couch, giving the impression that he has literally wasted away. Alas, he’s fine: The prankster stands up from behind the couch, naked, and his girlfriend, who is not amused, tosses one of the long, thin noodles his way and tells him to cover himself up with it.
"I think … that what I quite liked to do was try to keep things feeling as realistic as possible, but then to sort of chuck in one sort of surreal premise or one sort of surreal character—something that would just completely throw everything a little bit off kilter," he explains.
Hosking, who recently helmed "Spiros," "Snorkel," "Snore" and "Monkey" for BT Cellnet, out of agency AMV, London; and Citroen’s "Le Chasseur" and "Macdrive" via Euro RSCG Works, Paris, notes that if a crazy idea pops into his head, he shares it. "What I’ve learned from any good director that I’ve worked with is that you shouldn’t feel at all embarrassed or apologetic about any ideas that might sound strange," he states. "You just do what you believe in—because anyone who has done anything original has had to be the first person to do that."
Carl Erik Rinsch
When Carl Erik Rinsch, who directs spots out of bicoastal RSA USA, put together his spec reel, he had no intention of becoming a commercial director. Rather, it was done as a thesis while the helmer was a student at Brown University, Providence, R.I. For Rinsch, who aimed to direct films, it was "an exercise in technique."
The reel includes a visually gorgeous black-and-white spec spot for Pepsi called "Movie Theater," in which a guy shows up late to meet his girlfriend at the movies. She has already bought the tickets. He figures he’ll pay her back by picking up the popcorn, but realizes he doesn’t have his wallet. Trying to figure out where it could be, he recalls his day, ultimately seeing that he and his girlfriend never actually got to the movies alive. Turns out they were hit by a truck as they dashed across the street to get there, and now they’re angels. "So this is heaven," the boy says, as he and his girlfriend enter the movie theater and see other patrons seated with Pepsi cups in hand.
His work also includes spec ads for, cK One ("Daydream") and Tampax ("Red"), as well as a four-spot package comprising the spots "Love/ Lust," ‘Envy," "Victory" and "Timing" for McDonald’s, out of Arnold Virginia, McLean, Va. Rinsch was also selected for the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase at this year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival. Since receiving that honor, he has finished a spot for the Boston Idea Group, and is currently working on a Lynx perfume ad.
The director’s reel displays an ability to tackle various styles of filmmaking. "I’m trying to figure out now which I like to do more: whether I like to do performance more or whether I like to capture things in camera or whether I like to do effects," he says.
Rinsch always knew he wanted to be a filmmaker, but he decided to get a liberal arts education at Brown before pursuing his career. "I grew up in Los Angeles surrounded by filmmakers," he relates, "and I was shooting film at fourteen or fifteen. I knew the technical aspects of filmmaking, but I didn’t feel that heart and brain were in the right place to utilize all these techniques." Ultimately, Rinsch believes, his education will make him a more well-rounded director.
As for how he broke into the business, Rinsch says he was actually working on his reel at a postproduction facility when it was suggested to him that he show it around. After finding out that RSA USA was a well-known, successful company, Rinsch actually dared to show up at the Los Angeles office and hand his reel to a director’s assistant. He asked the guy to take a look at it with him. He said, ‘If you like it, get it in the right hands.’ "
The runner liked it, passed it on, and Rinsch was signed. Looking back, even Rinsch is amazed. "It was either a really daring thing to do or a really stupid thing to do," he says, laughing.
Surrounded by directing greats like Ridley and Tony Scott, Rinsch is thrilled to be with RSA USA. "Once I was offered a job at RSA, I was offered a job at four other production companies—just through the grapevine," he relates. "[Those others said,] ‘Don’t sign with RSA. It’s a family-owned company. All they give a damn about is the Scotts.’ I think they’re right on the first part, but not on the second part. They are a family company, but they’ve treated me like family."
Marcos Siega
Having worked with everyone from Anthrax to BB Mak, director Marcos Siega has made quite a name for himself in the world of music video. (Siega directs clips through Palomar Pictures, Los Angeles.) Among his accolades: a 2000 MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Music Video for Blink 182’s "All the Small Things," and a 2000 Grammy Award nomination for Best Short Form Music Video for Papa Roach’s "Broken Home."
Now the director, who is represented for commercials via hungry man, is starting to get noticed in the spot world. His credits include commercials for Alltel, the Independent Film Channel and, most notably, a series of Red Stripe beer ads. The humorous spots—"Ugly," "Inner You," "White Man Dancing," "Short & Stubby" and "Parade"—out of BBDO New York, feature a Jamaican Red Stripe spokesman who encourages viewers to celebrate beer.
In one spot, titled "Inner You," the Red Stripe spokesman does a sort of man-on-the-street interview, asking a white guy, "What’s the inner you?" Seconds later, the interviewee is transformed into a Jamaican woman. Another ad, "White Man Dancing," finds the Red Stripe spokesman dancing to reggae. A white man is watching him and slowly starts to get into the groove. "Red Stripe and reggae! Helping our white friends dance for over 70 years!" the spokesman proclaims. All of the spots end with the tagline, "Hooray beer!"
The ads are silly, simple and purposely made to have a stripped-down, low-budget feel. "I’m not a big fan of highly stylized material. I like capturing a real moment and either making it funny or making you think about something," Siega says. "I take a situation that I think is very real and normal, and try to twist it so it’s off and strange and people talk about it."
Thus far, Siega has found ad agencies to be open to his approach. "Commercials are a lot more creative than I imagined them to be," notes Siega, whose résumé includes a stint as an assistant producer at Ketchum Advertising, New York.
He doesn’t agree with commercial directors who complain about not having as much creative control as music video directors. "I’ve never found that to be true," he states. "Maybe it was the creatives I worked with, but I really enjoy the process."
Ultimately, the worlds of music videos and commercials are more similar than they are different, according to Siega. "In both, you’re selling a product. You can be creative, and you can experiment, but you always have to remember that with music videos and commercials, there is one basic thing you are trying to communicate, and that’s, ‘Here is something we’re trying to sell you.’ As a filmmaker, you don’t always want to think that way, but it’s a good thing to have in the back of your mind. That way, you’re going to keep people happy."
Michael Sucsy
If there is a common thread on Michael Sucsy’s reel of spec spots, it is humor. Case in point: "McGregor" for Jockey underwear finds a distinguished, older, kilt-wearing gentleman visiting his local general store for supplies. The weather is turning for the worse, and the shop girls, both with strong Scottish accents, advise the man to carry only one bag, thereby leaving a hand free to keep his kilt from blowing up. "That doesn’t bother me a bit," he says, suddenly lifting up his kilt to show off his Jockey underwear.
The joke is a surprise. In fact, the humor in much of Sucsy’s work tends to sneak up on the viewer. "I think my strength is definitely com-edy-dialogue, and one of the things that I set out to do is not signal that it’s comedy," explains the director, who is represented by Palomar Pictures.
"That’s why my spots are lit the way they are," he continues. The Jockey ad, for example, has a dark, filmic look. "I don’t think comedy has to be wide lenses half an inch from an actor’s face. That can be funny, but it isn’t the only way to be funny."
Sucsy’s reel also includes a Hallmark spec spot that finds the members of the Justice League of America—Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Superman—playing cards at a retirement home, and a spec History Channel promo for the "Battle of the Bulge" that juxtaposes black-and-white war footage with images of women struggling to squeeze into corsets.
In addition to being visually interesting, each spot has a distinct, crafted concept, all of which Sucsy dreamed up while studying commercialmaking at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Calif. The director didn’t intend necessarily to become a filmmaker. In fact, as an undergraduate he was studying international diplomacy at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., when he interned at Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York, and realized he had an interest in production.
Upon graduating from college with a B.S. in foreign service, Sucsy moved to New York and worked in production. His credits include everything from feature films like Godzilla and Under Siege, to a few episodes of Law & Order, to a few commercials and music videos. When he was certain that advertising was, in fact, his main interest, Sucsy enrolled at Art Center. "It was important that I got the right education," he explains.
A large part of that education came from his days at Cliff Freeman and Partners. "Cliff, all of those people—they were incredible," he recalls. And they gave him an insight into the agency business that allows him to work better with creatives.
While some directors view agency folks as "the enemy," Sucsy sees them as his greatest collaborators. "Why are they the enemy? They had the original idea," he asks. "It’s their concept, and to try to take it away like it’s ‘capture the flag’ or something is ridiculous, because you have to hand it back in the end, anyway."
Spencer Susser
Spencer Susser is only in his mid-20s, yet the director has already built up an impressive reel of music videos for the likes of Shaggy and The Offspring, as well as a campaign for the Library of Congress.
"When people ask me how I’ve gotten so far at such a young age, I tell them I’ve been making films since I was twelve," says the director, who is represented by bicoastal Bob Industries. When Susser, a native of Los Angeles, was in high school, he worked as an assistant editor at AFI, for free. On weekends, he toiled as a camera assistant on low-budget movies.
Eventually, he got a job as a runner at editorial house Rock Paper Scissors, Los Angeles, and it wasn’t long before he was editing footage shot by a wide range of directors, including Mark Romanek of bicoastal Satellite; Peter Care, who is also with Bob; and Pam Thomas of bicoastal Moxie Pictures. "I was constantly picking these people’s brains as much as I could," Susser recalls. "I was like a sponge."
Using money he earned as an editor, Susser started shooting music videos for various friends. All along, Rock Paper Scissors editor Angus Wall and executive producer Linda Carlson encouraged Susser to pursue his passion. Ultimately, his reel came to the attention of the folks at RSA USA. Susser signed with the firm, and his career was launched. While there, he directed the Library of Congress package, which was done via DDB Chicago, as well as the aforementioned clips for The Offspring and Shaggy.
Susser recently helmed a second round of Library of Congress campaigns, also out of DDB, but this time with Bob Industries producing. Like the first campaign, the new spots show children having fun with history. One of the spots, "Liar’s Poker," finds a group of kids munching on potato chips while engaging in a game of Liar’s Poker. As the camera pans around the table, we see a cardboard cutout of Abraham Lincoln, who is "playing" cards too. The other spots in the new campaign are "George on a String," "Pool," "Karaoke" and "Wrestling."
Susser’s recent work also includes a documentary he shot on the making of the upcoming Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones. It’s a job he’ll never forget. "It was like having front-row seats to watch George Lucas make a movie," he relates.
Susser would ultimately like to work in longform, and is talking to feature agents, but plans to wait as long as it takes to find a solid script. "There’s that famous saying, ‘You can’t make a good movie from a bad script, but you can make a bad movie from a good script," he states. "And that goes with everything. I even believe in most cases it goes with music videos: If the song sucks, the video is probably going to suck; and with commercials I feel the same way. It all comes down to the idea. Without that you have nothing."
