According to the Swedish Music Information Center, performer Stakka Bo was one of the best-known voices and faces in Sweden-a constant hit on charts and radio, and a man whose sense of style was well-respected on the fashion front. Stakka who? Most Americans wouldn’t have a clue who or what Stakka Bo is. He did nudge into the Billboard charts once in the mid-’90s, but why would Stakka Bo be mentioned in SHOOT’s Spring Director’s Issue? It’s because he is beginning to build a reputation in U.S. advertising circles-under his given name, Johan Renck-as a director. Renck’s first commercial effort in the U.S. is Nike’s three-spot TV/Internet campaign for its Air Cross Trainer II line of sneakers.
The spots-"Racing Marion," with Olympic sprinter Marion Jones; "Celebrity Cruise," with home-run king Mark McGwire; and "Snowball," with snowboarder Rob Kingwill-from Wieden + Kennedy (W + K), Portland, Ore, have a P.O.V. style, with you, the viewer, racing Jones or schussing with Kingwill. For example, in "Racing Marion," you are shown running after the track star through backyards and over fences. Jones even stops to offer you a sip of water from a garden hose before leading you to the pier, where you get caught up with a chainsaw juggler. The ad comes to an abrupt halt, at which point the site address-whatever. nike.com-pops up with the tag "continued at." Once you get to the site, you can view several different endings-including dismemberment and decapitation.
"My immediate reaction was, ‘Of course. That’s a genius idea. No one has ever done it before,’" Renck says of the spots’ P.O.V. style. "The endings could be any length, and they’re not surrounded by the same rules when it comes to censorship. You can do bolder stuff. It opens a lot of doors."
Renaissance Man
Vic Palumbo, a broadcast producer at W + K, discovered Renck through a sales rep at bicoastal HSI Productions. (Renck is handled in the U.S. by HSI, and by Petersson Ackerlund Renck, Stockholm.) Palumbo was attracted to the variety of Renck’s own experiences, and to his commercial and music video directing endeavors in Europe. "He’s a great guy, and he’s so well rounded," says Palumbo. "That’s what this campaign needed-his experience as a musician and as a director. A lot of directors have their niche-fashion, sports, videos, et cetera. Johan’s very open to all facets and can handle all kinds of situations. These endings come from all over the place, not one situation."
According to Renck, the Nike shoot was definitely not a walk in the park. "It took three months," he recalls. "We produced about twenty-five minutes of material, with three sixties, and then altogether, something like twenty-four endings [with lengths of] thirty seconds to one and a half minutes. The most demanding part was to shoot all this in seven or eight days. It was all about shooting this one while setting up that one, and keeping shot A close to shot B so we could just walk over with the camera."
DP Henrik Halvarsson shot the spots using a strap-on camera in a rig he and Renck built to keep the viewer P.O.V. authentic. "We had to think totally differently," says Renck. "You can’t shoot from different angles. You have to tell the different [stories] very much into the camera."
Renck, 32, brings a varied background to directing. The son of a doctor and professor who taught and conducted research around the world, Renck has lived in Norway, Miami and Kuwait, among other locales. After earning an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics, he turned his back on the business world after graduation and instead pursued a successful career in pop music as Stakka Bo. His music was well received throughout Europe, and he started directing his own band’s music videos, churning out five between ’93 and ’94.
"A little over a year ago, I felt I wanted to direct again," he says. "I was a little fed up with my artistry and being an artist and all that. In October ’98, I did a pop video for Baxter, a Swedish band that was signed to the American label, Maverick." Maverick is run by Madonna, who liked the highly stylized Baxter clip, called "Television," and had Renck direct her clip for "Nothing Really Matters." At the same time, he began directing commercials in England and Europe.
"I was doing promos and commercials simultaneously because I think they’re two very different types of work," he says. "If I’ve done many spots, I always feel the urge to do promos, and the opposite."
In addition to the question of spots vs. videos vs. movies that many directors face when contemplating the future, Renck also has his music. "I’m still writing music and am just now completing my third album, which I’m going to put out in April," he says. "Songwriting and directing are very much related. It’s all about expression and conveying stuff to people. It’s about communication."
One clear goal is to do much of his work in the United States. "I really love to work in America," he says. "The teams and the people you work with are amazing. Of course, it’s interesting to work with the most creative agencies in the world. It was great to work with the guys at Wieden + Kennedy. We understood each other. So many times you work with people who don’t understand that they don’t understand. In this case, we were locked on target from the beginning."
focused idea
Although lauded by Palumbo for his collaboration in the creative process during the Nike shoots, Renck says he likes best to be presented with crystal-clear ideas. "Then I can focus on what I’m supposed to be doing in the spot. The worst thing is when agencies come to you and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got these jeans here. Would you help us with an idea for a spot?’"
As a director, Renck hopes to balance music video and commercial work, and would like to try stage directing and feature films. "I always want to try new things," he says. "I love so much what I do. I work seven days a week, fifteen hours a day. I have no friends. My girlfriend almost hates me by now. But I love it."c
