ed with all the changes going on."
Schaak has been talking with several production companies, but admits that at the moment he is "leaning" toward letting Twist represent him on a national basis. "The options are to go with a company that’s already established, or to take Twist and expand us to a national level. I’m leaning a little more toward Twist because I can have more control over what projects I can get through, and how they’re produced."
Schaak has already received a few national jobs via Twist. His is currently working on a spot for Diadora soccer shoes out of Hammerquist & Halverson, Seattle, and is bidding a Netscape 2001 commercial via Business Incentives, Minneapolis, and a Mothers Against Drunk Drivers commercial through Clarity Coverdale Fury.
With the demand for his directing talents accelerating, Schaak is a bit nonplussed that he almost backed away from his childhood dream of being a filmmaker. He graduated with a degree in entrepreneurship from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo., and while interviewing for a job in marketing, found himself asked by a recruiter: "If you could be any kind of animal, what would you choose?"
"At first, I thought, ‘What does that have to do with anything?’ but then decided I could [become a director]. That was the turning point," says Schaak. He returned to St. Paul, Minn., "and started PA-ing" before directing through Northwest Teleproductions, Minneapolis, in ’95. "In the end, it was kind of my grad school and they paid me to go," says Schaak. A few spec commercials shot with a borrowed camera on weekends landed a representation deal with Passport Films (now New York-based Compass Films).
Schaak would eventually like to emulate idols Stanley Kubrick and John Carpenter and direct a feature, and is looking for scripts. "I know having [Carpenter] as a role model sounds goofy," Schaak admits. "I used to want to be a special effects makeup artist when I was a kid. Then I went and saw Halloween and that made me want to be a director. I saw how he manipulated people and got them to feel stuff, so that was pretty cool."c
