CHICAGO-Two-year-old production house Superior Street, with bases in Chicago and Los Angeles, has added directors Larry August and Tim Roarke and has renamed itself Spoke Film in order to differentiate its live-action division from its postproduction/graphics and effects unit (which will remain known as Superior Street).
Established comedy/dialogue specialist August comes over after a little more than two years at bicoastal, Chicago and Atlanta-based Crossroads Films (SHOOT, 11/15/96, p. 7). He was previously affiliated with The Story Family of Companies, and was one of the original directors signed to Chicago Story when it was founded in 1989. August continues to operate his own Farmington, Mich.-based shop, Avalon Films, for Detroit-area work, and he maintains his affiliation with Toronto-based Maxx Productions for Canadian projects.
Roarke joins Spoke following a stint at Cognito Films, Santa Monica, where he worked from May 1997 to June ’98. The director, whose work at Cognito had been geared toward visual, subtle comedy, first earned industry attention with his spec spot "Chicken" for Budweiser, which he produced through his Burbank, Calif., company, Wilkins Creek Films. "Chicken" ended up debuting on the ’97 Super Bowl telecast for DDB Needham Chicago (SHOOT, 2/29/97, p. 1).
Before moving into directing, Roarke spent 12 years as an assistant cameraman, working with the likes of directors Peter Nydrle (now at bicoastal Case/ Nydrle), Kevin Kerslake (now at gigantic, Los Angeles) and DP Rolf Kestermann (of Strato Films, Los Angeles).
Spoke executive producer Dick Gillespie said it had been his mission to grow the live-action arm of the company. Having had a measure of success with directing team Steve Farr and Barry Poltermann, Gillespie said, the company felt it was time to create a more distinct identity for the live-action unit, which led it to adopt the Spoke moniker. (Superior Street refers to the company’s address in Chicago’s River North district. Gillespie found that name sparked little recognition outside of Chicago.)
"Our goal is really to be thought of as a national company," said Gillespie, "as opposed to a Chicago-based company. I think with the creation of Spoke and the addition of other directors, it’ll give us a chance to break out on our own." August and Roarke seemed a good fit for Spoke, he added, citing the current preponderance of comedy/ dialogue boards as one factor in their signing.
Gillespie noted that August, who had approached the company, maintained an active shooting schedule over the past year. He estimated that the director, who was unavailable for comment at press time, had shot 40 days or more just through Avalon Films, and had also worked frequently on Canadian jobs.
"I think now he’s just ready to get back to a more national situation in the States," said Gillespie. "I know he’d planned on possibly opening up a Los Angeles office for Avalon, but he decided it was better to affiliate with someone. He knew about my reputation and had heard great things about Superior Street."
August’s recent spot credits include "Construction Workers," for Canadian retail store Eaton’s via Roche Macaulay & Partners, Toronto, which won a Gold at the 1998 Art Directors of Canada show; "Corkscrew" (a Silver winner at the Art Directors show) for IKEA also via Roche Macaulay & Partners; "Breaker," which won a ’98 Gold Clio, for Casino Rama via Marshall Fenn, Toronto; and "Minimalist" for Lincoln-Mercury via Young & Rubicam, Detroit.
Roarke related that after he left Cognito, he sent his reel to various companies. He told SHOOT one of his main criteria in a production house was a willingness to finance spec spots for his reel, as well as a dedication to pursuing the jobs he wants: comedy work with a little bit more of an edge to it. "The goal is to have a level of sophistication within the humor, which is supported by interesting visuals," said Roarke. "[With spec spots], I think you can really achieve a lot in terms of getting your exact vision [across]."
During his search, Roarke had a conversation with Chicago-based Sheila Stepanek, executive producer at Backyard Productions, Chicago and Santa Monica. While Backyard wasn’t looking for new directors, Ste-panek passed the director’s reel on to Gillespie. Said Roarke, "[Gillespie and I] had a great conversation-pretty much the same conversation I’d had with Sheila-in terms of the philosophy of how to develop my career. After I flew to Chicago and had a meeting, I felt [Spoke] was the place I could make it all happen."
Among Roarke’s credits are "I Want" and "Confession" for the Wisconsin State Fair, "Packer Money" for Associated Bank and "Choices" for Community Health Plan, all via William Eisner & Associates, Milwaukee. Roarke also directed "UFO" for El Chico restaurants via Poppe Writer, Dallas.
"I think Tim’s got an amazing amount of potential," added Gillespie. "He’s done a great job on every project he’s done. Obviously, we’d be looking to do bigger budget jobs to develop the reel farther. And Larry’s a solid guy; he does a great job every time out and has a terrific reputation. So it’s made a nice package with Steve and Barry, whose work is more visual."
Spoke has also taken over the 3,500-square-foot space formerly occupied by director Marc Chiat’s L.A.-based Red Dog Films. (Chiat has since joined Green Dot, Santa Monica, for commercial representation.) The shop’s West Coast presence has further been bolstered by the relocation of Farr and Poltermann from Milwaukee to California. While the two remain partners in Purple Onion, Milwaukee, which also represents director Jack Davidson, Poltermann said they’ve shifted the bulk of the day-to-day operations and management duties over to Milwaukee-based executive producer/producer Dave Dahlman.
Spoke is represented by New York-based Tim Merjos of CMP on the East Coast; by Chicago-based Serena Harragin in the Midwest and by San Francisco-based Novick & Associates on the West Coast.
