Tate USA, headquartered in Santa Monica, has added three directors for exclusive U.S. spot representation: Ted Pauly, Phil Brown, and James Dodson. Pauly retains his senior producer’s post at MTV while becoming available to helm commercials. The Toronto-based Brown is well established as a spot director, after having served as an agency creative in both Scotland and Canada. And Dodson is a former VP production at 20th Century Fox who is currently slated to helm two feature films.
In his senior producer capacity at MTV, Pauly has garnered numerous honors, including BDA and PROMAX Awards, and a Peabody Award for his work on the “Know HIV/AIDS and Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself” campaign. He also directed for MTV a series of 2003 “Speak Out” spots soliciting opinions of young people on the then pending war in Iraq. Pauly’s helming credits also include a short on young voters, which was shown at the Democratic National Convention in ’04. For MTV, he has also collaborated on several contest spots with outside clients such as Atari, Virgin Mobile and Procter & Gamble’s Pantene line of products.
David Tate, president/executive producer of Tate USA, said he was drawn to Pauly’s “skill in grasping the underlying truth of an idea and communicating it with subversive humor.” In turn, Pauly related that he was attracted to Tate USA based on his affinity for exec producer Tate, the company’s small directorial roster, and the support the shop offers for “extracurricular work” like short films.
DODSON
Tate USA becomes the first formal spot production house roost not only for Pauly but also the aforementioned Dodson, who is slated to direct The Retreat and Shades of Gray. The latter feature is being produced by Nicholas Cage and developed by his production company Saturn Films. The Retreat is being done for New Line Cinema and producer Jon Berg (Elf). Earlier this year, Dodson sold an hour-long drama series to USA Networks called Damage Control, which he is writing. Additionally, he is attached to direct and executive produce the pilot. Bruce Willis and his production company, Cheyenne, are attached to produce.
David Tate believes that Dodson will transition seamlessly into spotwork. The director is no stranger to shorter form fare. His short film, David Mamet’s Gilded Stones, was an official selection of the ’04 Sundance Film Festival, HBO Comedy Arts Festival, and the San Francisco Independent Film Festival. Stones also won this year’s Indie Producer Short Film Contest.
BROWN
Meanwhile Brown’s ad industry experience spans the agency and production house sides of the fence. A U.K. native, Brown got his start in the agency arena, working as an art director at Formula, Aberdeen, Scotland. He made his spot directing debut by way of a competition sponsored by Creative Review; Brown helmed an Absolut Vodka ad, “Absolut Intrigue,” which garnered attention. He then moved to Canada and took an art director position at BBDO Vancouver.
During his BBDO tenure, Brown took another stab at directing when a creative colleague, Bradley Wood, from Palmer Jarvis DDB, Vancouver, offered him an assignment for Fong’s fresh poultry, “Dead Chicken,” which was short listed at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in ’98. Brown and Wood teamed to create the darkly humored spot in which two elderly women are not allowed to board a city bus with a live chicken–so they strangle it.
Shortly after the Cannes recognition, Brown landed spot representation as a director via Radke Films, Toronto, and then in the U.S. at bicoastal The Artists Company. He later shifted from the latter for a stateside representation stint with Metro Pictures, Marina del Rey, Calif., and then briefly at bicoastal/international Partizan in ’02. That same year, he moved his Canadian representation to Industry Films, Toronto. Since Partizan, Brown has had not U.S. representation until his signing now with Tate.
Brown’s directing credits over the years include spots for Volkswagen, Cadbury, Wal-Mart, 7-Up, Visa, Labatt, Molson, Sony, Ikea and Samsung. Much of this work has been for the Canadian ad market but he has also diversified into Europe with campaigns for the likes of Ikea in Germany. Brown also maintains a Silver Clio-winning Web site, which carries an air travel theme, dovetailing with his directorial goal of taking audiences on a journey.
Brown, Pauly and Dodson join a Tate USA directorial roster that also consists of Federico Brugia, Shaun Conrad, Alain Gourrier, Vadim Perelman, Jason Reitman, Richard Sears and Jonathan Teplitzky.
