The duo known as Snack—co-directors Naz Sadoughi and Edward Salkeld—has signed with London-based Stink for spot and music video representation worldwide, excluding France, where the team continues to be handled by Paris-based Telema.
This marks the first U.S. representation for Snack, which was formerly affiliated with Annex, London, from 1999 until earlier this year. Snack’s credits include spots for Eastpak backpacks via FCB Brussels; Credit Lyonnais out of Devarrieux-Villaret, Paris; French lottery Française des Jeux through BDDP/TBWA, Paris; and e-mail text messaging service U-Boot.com from McCann-Erickson, London.
In 1998, the pair also co-directed a controversial test spot for Pepsi that garnered attention and illustrated offbeat, darkly comedic sensibilities. Scripted by a creative at Ogilvy & Mather London, "Dayroom" depicts a mental patient in a psychiatric ward, who is lured to a Coke vending machine. The guy head-butts the machine, which, in turn, dispenses a coin. He takes the coin to the hospital security warden, who gives him a can of Pepsi from his own vending machine. Although not broadcast commercially, the ad was shown as part of a French TV program showcasing little-viewed commercials.
Stink executive producer Daniel Bergmann observed, "What most struck me was some of their short films and the Pepsi commercial ["Dayroom"]. I think the work on their reel has very good performances and some really unusual lighting, which interested me."
Sadoughi said that she and Salkeld had been seeking a production house with more of a creative environment, which they found in Stink. "We were taking our time and being quite selective," she explained. "Stink called us and said they liked our work. And when Stink sent us their showreel, we thought it was one of the most creative ones we’d seen."
"They have a quite different eye," continued Bergmann. "They’re very original, which also struck me—the way they shoot, cast, even how they do color correction … it’s quite new and fresh, and slightly disturbing. Their approach is completely original."
This is illustrated, for example, in the bizarre Eastpak spot with a plot that revolves around a guy having a birthday party. But the man has no body—he is just a head—and is given a backpack as a gift. "We had so much fun creating the characters at the party—like identical twins, bearded women, strong men and big fat women," said Salkeld. "The creatives liked our ideas and almost gave us free rein to create all this imagery."
Salkeld, who has an M.A. in cinematography, has worked as freelance cameraman for the past 10 years, and began directing short films while in college. Sadoughi had spent eight years as a freelance animator and designer for assorted London companies before moving into directing. The two met in 1997 and, a few months later, collaborated on Snap, a short film that Salkeld wrote and directed, and Sadoughi produced. The piece was screened at Raindance and the London Film Festival.
Following that experience, the filmmakers went their separate ways for a year before re-teaming in 1998 to co-direct the Salkeld-scripted short Fudge, a dialogue-driven piece in which two young boys pretend to be gangsters; that film also did the festival circuit.
"I’ve been doing the live-action thing for quite a bit longer [than Sadoughi]," said Salkeld, "but when Naz and I teamed up together, it just seemed to happen much more comfortably … both of us working on short films together. We seemed to come up with a lot more original, fun ideas."
Sadoughi added, "We got a computer, which enabled us to put all of the stuff we shot on DV [digital video]. Initially we worked a lot on DV, so we’d use the computer to edit our work, color-grade it and do everything. We’d done three or four short pieces that we really enjoyed doing and were quite proud of. I think that showed us we could work together and that two heads are better than one."
The pair proceeded to compile a body of work including music videos and experimental shorts, such as NDE, an acronym that refers to the piece’s topic of near-death experiences. "NDE ended up being quite spooky, and it scared not only us, but other people as well," reported Sadoughi. After assembling a reel, Snack began sending it to assorted production companies. The work attracted the attention of Annex, which signed the duo in ’99.
Bergmann related that he is considering opening a U.S. production office, which would likely be based in New York, in order to increase Stink’s presence stateside. Stink is currently repped on the West Coast by Rebecca Reber and Brooke Covington of Reber Covington, Los Angeles and San Francisco, while Chicago-based rep Helen O’Brien handles Midwest sales and New York-based Howell/Forsberg covers the East Coast.
