Howard Spivey, head of TV at BMP DDB London—and perhaps best known for his work on the Volkswagen account—is set to leave the agency in late February. He will join The Comfort Zones, a London-headquartered talent representation/ad agency consultancy firm that formally opened several months ago under the aegis of CEO Andrea Binda.
A BMP DDB mainstay for the past 20 years, Spivey has had a hand in assorted notable spots, including the Cannes Gold Lion-winning "Lamppost," directed by Paul Gay of Outsider, London. (Gay is repped stateside by bicoastal Omaha Pictures.) Succeeding Spivey at BMP DDB will be a couple of veteran staffers who are being promoted to serve as joint heads of TV: producer Maggie Blundell and business manager Ron Blades.
At The Comfort Zones, Spivey will become a key component in the company business model, which has potential implications for the commercial production community on both sides of the Atlantic. That business model was devised by Binda, formerly of Central Group, which he founded and helped grow into a family of production houses throughout Europe (Italy, the U.K., Germany, Poland). The Comfort Zones’ venture is designed to serve agencies outside the heavily trafficked U.S. and U.K. milieu, the focus being on ad shops throughout much of continental Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia and South America.
Agency producers, heads of production and creatives can tap into Spivey’s expertise in terms of directors, DPs, editors and other filmmaking talent, as well as gain help in production logistics. "In most respects, it’s like what I was doing on occasion when I’d get a call from DDB Greece or Poland," related Spivey. "They’d send me a script; I’d help them find the right director and whatever else they needed. I’ll be taking that on now 100 fold [at The Comfort Levels]."
The ensemble of directorial talent that Spivey will mainly draw from is currently being assembled by The Comfort Zones, which has signed agreements with several production companies, including: London-based RSA Films and bicoastal RSA USA; Academy Commercials, London; Stark Films, London; and Eclipse Productions, London. The deals do not cover geographical territories in which the companies and their directors already have representation. The Comfort Zones has also entered into a similar relationship to represent the artists and resources at London-based post/visual effects studio The Mill.
Spivey has worked with many on The Comfort Zones’ roster; a prime example being Academy director Jonathan Glazer, who teamed with Spivey on VW Polo’s "Protection," a spot that received recognition at numerous international awards shows.
And several other director signings are imminent, according to David Lawrence, chairman/director of marketing at The Comfort Zones. Earlier in his career, Lawrence was a self-described "agency suit," having served as vice-chairman and head of client services at Dorland/Bates, London, and later CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Europe. For the past 10 years, he has specialized in helping company start-ups, securing financing and creating operational infrastructures. Most of those ventures have been in the new-media sector.
With that recent experience, Lawrence figures to play a prominent role in another part of The Comfort Zones’ consulting business, as agencies grapple with what new ad forms will be created to target consumers via emerging media. He added that aiding The Comfort Zones in that pursuit will be The Mill, which has experimented extensively in convergent media.
Besides building a bridge between agencies and new media, The Comfort Zones hopes to bring the directors and production houses it represents into the equation. Lawrence said it stands to reason that commercial filmmaking talent will be integrally involved in traditional and new forms of advertising.
Other staffers at The Comfort Zones include CFO Roderick Haire, marketing manager Tracey LaCour, marketing executive Pat Santos, and talent managers Daisy Hoque and Harriet Warburg. Lawrence noted that Hoque will be working closely with Spivey to identify new, up-and-coming directors that The Comfort Zones would like to represent. In assembling its roster of production companies and directors, The Comfort Zones, said Lawrence, could wind up forming representation relationships with some select American houses.
On the ad agency side, The Comfort Zones is not looking to the U.S. or U.K., but rather to other international markets. "There are good scripts and decent budgets coming out of unlikely parts of the world—Southeast Asia and South America come to mind," related Lawrence. "And these agencies are very much in need of sophisticated directors. We see ourselves helping to connect them with that talent."
Staffers from The Comfort Zones will be making trips to agencies throughout the world to form working relationships. The long-term plan for The Comfort Zones is to set up regional offices in Europe, the Pacific Rim, South America and eventually the U.S. The company has secured a presence in Australia, hiring Sydney-based agency veteran John Wilson to liaison with agencies. Earlier in his career, Wilson served as creative director at Grey Advertising, London, and now defunct U.K. shop KMP. He, Lawrence and Spivey worked together at KMP, and now find themselves reunited at The Comfort Zones.
Lawrence said that the principal sources of income for The Comfort Zones are commissions on those projects it secures for directors, and fees generated by consulting in the new-media arena for ad agencies. Binda is the principal shareholder in The Comfort Zones, which has financial backing from several non-industry firms in continental Europe, primarily Germany. Lawrence is a partner in The Comfort Zones, with key staffers such as Spivey holding equity options.
