Spoke Films, a production company with bases in Chicago and Los Angeles, has added director Ron Lazzeretti and executive producer Ed Amaya.
Lazzeretti and Amaya come over from Chicago-based production house Two Olives, which Lazzeretti started in late 1994 with partner/director Rino Liberatore (SHOOT, 12/16/94, p.7). Before that, both Lazzeretti and Liberatore were co-creative directors at now-closed Chicago agency Eisaman, Johns & Laws, where they worked on campaigns for Chicagoland Chevy Dealers Association, Chicago radio station WLUP-FM and Tribune Entertainment Co. Before Two Olives, Amaya had served as a sales rep for production house Chicago Story.
At Two Olives, Lazzeretti and Liberatore had functioned as co-directors until they recently decided to pursue separate directing careers. Earlier this summer, Lazzeretti and Amaya departed Two Olives, which is now inactive. (Liberatore is still weighing his options, which include maintaining Two Olives.)
Spoke Films executive producer Dick Gillespie said that Lazzeretti and Amaya each independently came to the decision to join Spoke. Of Amaya’s hiring, Gillespie said that Spoke plans to add a couple of directors within the next few months. "I’m going to need help from an executive producer point of view," explained Gillespie.
"We wanted both of those guys," he continued, "for the things they can bring to the party; for instance, Ron for his comedic ability. One of my goals is to push awareness of Ron out into other markets, like the West Coast and New York. The majority of his work has come from the Midwest."
Gillespie added that he believes Lazzeretti was attracted to Spoke Films by the possibility of synergy with Spoke’s parent company, Chicago-based Superior Street, which offers post production and visual effects. Said Gillespie, "There are a lot of different people he can bounce ideas off, creatively."
Lazzeretti said that he and Liberatore—whom he’s been working with in various capacities for some 15 years—had a good five-year run at Two Olives. Among the goals they accomplished were making an indie film, The Opera Lover, which Lazzeretti wrote and Amaya produced. It made the film festival circuit in ’98, including the Hamptons International Film Festival and the Newport International Film Festival, where it won the audience award. A romantic comedy, the film focuses on a guy whose life is turned upside down by the re-emergence of an old flame who is an opera singer.
"I’ve long thought we [he and Liberatore] were both capable of doing it individually," stated Lazzeretti. "Sometimes you just feel like you’ve got to shoot yourself out of a cannon to really make a change. I felt it was time to do it separately, so that co-directing wouldn’t become a crutch. I didn’t feel that the option of branching out from within Two Olives was as good a proposition as forcing ourselves out into the world."
Spoke Films was a good fit for him, said Lazzeretti, who had a connection to Superior Street president Maggie Magee vis à vis her husband, Gary Katz, a DP who has frequently worked with Two Olives. "I was always hearing about things going on at Spoke and at Superior Street," Lazzeretti noted. "They seem to have a very smart, pragmatic approach to things, but at the same time … Magee is into nurturing people’s dreams and aspirations. It seemed like the kind of place where you could do very smart business but also dream a little bit."
Lazzeretti confirmed that the ability to take advantage of Superior Street’s resources interested him. Comparing Spoke to a production company with a candy store attached, he added, "Spoke seemed a situation where it was the best of both worlds. There’s a certain energy to the place, with the graphics department Superior Street is starting and the postproduction world they’ve got; and also with some of the other directors that they’ve been talking to … It felt like you could benefit from that."
Among Lazzeretti’s directorial credits (co-directed with Liberatore) are a campaign for A&W Root Beer via FCB Chicago, which is based on the concept of people acting thick-headed—albeit not as thick-headed as A&W’s beverage. In one such spot, called "Mr. Dumbass," a guy on a job interview repeatedly addresses his interviewer as "Mr. Dumbass," only to learn, at spot’s end, that it’s actually "Mr. Dumass." Another spot, "Stupid Husband," has a man who gleefully makes self-incriminating admissions to his wife, pointing out to her such things as a bill for a $300 massage that he can’t remember, and an unfamiliar lipstick stain on his shirt.
While the A&W job represents work on the broader end of the comedy spectrum, Lazzeretti said that he also enjoys dialogue-driven projects based on more subtle humor, as well as real-people comedy. "I love working with actors in dialogue scenes, and I’d like to take some of what we did in the independent feature and spread it into commercials."
Other credits include McDonald’s "Fry 2K" via DDB Chicago; "Picture Day" for Pert Plus via Leo Burnett Co., Chicago; and "Whisper Soft" for Coors Light and "Tea Party" for Snapple, both via FCB Chicago.
Amaya said he was impressed that Spoke Films had managed to survive in what has been a tough Chicago marketplace for the past couple of years. "As far as a production company goes, it’s a fairly large place and they have a lot of talented people," observed Amaya. "They’re in an expansion mode; the idea of me coming aboard is to help secure and develop some new talent. And with having an office here and in L.A., it seems they have a lot more reach."
Lazzeretti joins a Spoke Film directorial roster also consisting of directors Steve Farr and Barry Poltermann, who primarily direct as a team. Gillespie and Amaya handle Midwest sales, while the East Coast is covered by New York-based Single Bid. Spoke Film is currently seeking a new rep on the West Coast.
