By Robert Goldrich
HOLLYWOOD—Director Tim Hamilton has joined bicoastal Go Film for exclusive commercial representation in the U.S. At press time, he was slated to embark on his first job under the Go banner, a project for an undisclosed client, out of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), San Francisco.
Hamilton continues to be repped in Canada by Avion Film Productions, Toronto. He has been a mainstay helmer in the Canadian ad community, as underscored earlier this month during the Bessie Awards, which saw an AGF Mutual Funds spot he directed, "Surveyor" for TBWA, Toronto, win a gold award, and a craft honor for directing. Additionally, a Hamilton-helmed Dominion supermarkets commercial, "Fresh Fruit Manager," for agency Rethink, Vancouver, B.C., copped a gold, as did the overall Dominion campaign.
Hamilton’s major ad credits have largely been in comedy and storytelling for the Canadian market. He had been repped stateside for a stretch by director Michael Bay’s Santa Monica shop, The Institute for Development of Advanced Perceptual Awareness, but didn’t land any spotwork there. Prior to that, he was at bicoastal Zooma Zooma, where his credits included some Ad Council PSAs, which took a humorous approach to encouraging kids to stay in school.
Now at Go, Hamilton is committed to step up his U.S. ad activity. He became a hot commodity in the U.S. in 2000 with his short film, Truth in Advertising, a wildly popular spoof on the pretentious nature of the ad biz, which was created to open the ’00 Marketing Awards, an industry competition in Canada. The 12-minute film generated considerable buzz, fueled by it later becoming accessible for a time on the Internet. For example, upon being posted on the Zooma Zooma Web site, Truth in Advertising generated thousands upon thousands of hits during just the first few days. The film went on to be short-listed at the ’00 Cannes Film Festival.
Then Saatchi & Saatchi worldwide creative director Bob Isherwood asked Hamilton to create a second film in the Truth in Advertising tradition. Dubbed The Reel Truth, the film played in two parts, introducing and concluding the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase presentation at the ’01 Cannes International Advertising Festival.
In addition to directing The Reel Truth and Truth in Advertising, Hamilton co-wrote both films with David Chiavegato, who at the time was a creative at Palmer Jarvis DDB, Toronto. (Chiavegato is now a partner/creative at Toronto agency Grip.)
Hamilton related that he did not fully capitalize on Truth in Advertising and The Reel Truth in terms of the American ad market. At that point in his life, he wanted to stay close to home in Toronto to devote his time to family and to raising his newly born son.
Gary Rose, a partner/executive producer at Go Film, is a long-time fan of Hamilton’s work, spanning Truth in Advertising and his Canadian spots. "His very subtle, dry approach to storytelling and comedy is evident in his commercials," said Rose of Hamilton. "It’s the kind of work I’m drawn to and why I’ve wanted to work with him for years. Now I’m finally getting that chance, and there’s validation in seeing many of my agency contacts respond immediately to his work." In addition to the earlier alluded to GS&P project, another U.S. ad assignment for Hamilton was pending as SHOOT went to press.
Hamilton first established himself as a music video director (for such acts as Barenaked Ladies and Crash Test Dummies). One of his music clip roosts was Hoodoo Films, Toronto, which later became a division of Avion. This Avion connection led to his successfully diversifying into commercials.
Over the years, Hamilton has helmed Canadian spots for such clients as Lexus, Levi’s, Toyota, Suzuki and Concerned Children’s Advertisers, an organization that promotes responsible advertising targeting children in Canada. The latter PSA, titled "House Hippo" for Publicis, Toronto, showcases in documentary fashion the habits of the house hippopotamus, a miniature hippo that lives in people’s homes. A voiceover then concludes the spot with "That looked so real, but you knew that couldn’t be true, didn’t you?" The PSA’s advice—question the truth of what you see on TV. "House Hippo" gained recognition in SHOOT‘s "The Best Work You May Never See" gallery (6/25/99, p. 17).
Hamilton joins a Go directorial roster that consists of David Dobkin, Rene Eller, Caitlin Felton, Christopher Guest, Overall & McQuoid, Joel Pront, rad-ish, Michael Shapiro and Neil Tardio Jr.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More