Consumers weren’t so educated, and frankly, advertising people weren’t so educated," recalls Andrew Chinich, executive director of broadcast production at Bozell, New York, of the state of advertising a decade ago. Chinich says that advertising is entertainment. "No matter how you slice it, it’s show business," he explains. "You go into a client presentation, it’s a little razzle-dazzle—you’ve got to entertain people. At the end of the day, that’s what we’re doing. Look at the consumer surveys that test how people react to spots. Was there a message? Well, yeah, sure. But what [consumers] always remember is that something great happened. Or that something funny happened. Or that [the spot] looked great. That’s the impression we leave with them."
Chinich likes taking risks; solving problems is his forte. "The only reason I came [to Bozell] is because executive creative director Brent Bouchez approached me and asked, ‘What do you think of Bozell?’ I said, ‘Well, nothing—not good and not bad.’ He said, ‘Here’s an opportunity to bring great key people in and turn this place around. You have a reputation for doing that.’ For me, to go to a place that’s already in order, where everyone is happy with the work—that just doesn’t make sense. I’m good at stirring things up a little bit and making things happen. When I got here [last year], they didn’t even have a New York reel. The reel they showed me was from the Detroit office [now FCB Worldwide Detroit, Southfield, Mich.]. Now we have a New York reel."
Since joining the ad shop in May ’99, Chinich has overseen a number of high-profile spots for clients such as Datek Online, the Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP) and Dairy Management, Bell Atlantic, Mobile and The New York Times. The MilkPEP/Dairy Management work, which includes "Mario," directed by Allan Van Rijn of bicoastal RSA USA, and "Old Guys," helmed by Jake Scott, also of RSA USA, represents the first broadcast work funded jointly by both organizations. For Datek, Chinich contributed to "The Wall," directed by Gerard de Thame of bicoastal HSI Productions, as well as other spots for the financial services firm.
Late Bloomer
"I got into advertising rather late," says Chinich, who had previously worked on feature films, in the music business, and on music videos. He worked with his brother Michael in New York on dozens of films. When Michael moved out to Los Angeles, Andrew opted to stay in New York, and eventually traveled to Eastern Europe to work on features. He then made the move to Los Angeles, but quickly discovered it didn’t suit him and returned to New York to work on music videos.
So why did a man with an entertainment career make the jump to advertising? "I was at a point in my life where I was sick and tired of being dependent on flaky musicians," Chinich says. "I needed something that would combine everything I knew from music, videos and the film business. I thought [advertising] might be an opportunity to pull all that together."
Chinich explains that he was also drawn to advertising’s quick pace. "I liked the prospect of being able to do lots of production, back to back to back," he says. "In the film business, you’re working on a film for four or five months, which is both great and miserable. If you’re working on something great, it’s great; if it’s something miserable, you’re miserable. It’s a long time in your life."
"I had a bit of an uphill battle," Chinich says of his transition to advertising. "I was trying to get an advertising job, and they were like, ‘OK, you’ve done all that, but what does it have to do with [advertising]?’ I’m like, ‘Well, you still have to shoot something, still have to get it in the can, still have to edit it.’ It’s all [related to] the entertainment biz. Fortunately everyone understands that now, but that was not the case in the mid-to-late eighties."
He got a break at BBDO New York, where he worked as an assistant producer before moving over to Chiat/Day (now TBWA/Chiat/Day), New York. "It was all good timing because the advertising industry was just beginning to understand itself as a source of entertainment," he says. "I like to think I sort of helped it along. I introduced [the idea that] you didn’t have to go to music houses for music—you could go directly to real musicians. You didn’t have to use the same five directors everybody else was using in the U.S.—you could go anywhere in the whole world, or even use feature film directors."
More important to Chinich though, was bringing major recording artists into commercials. "The music was just so lame in advertising," he says. "I think that’s what I’ve affected the most in my career; using original artists like Kate Bush, Debbie Harry, David Byrne, and Todd Rundgren [on spots]. It’s always much harder to use original artists and musicians because you go out on more of a limb. But I think that’s a great moral in life: You go out and take bigger chances, the payoff is bigger. If you want to play it closer to the vest, you’re just not going to achieve as much."
One of Chinich’s recent spots which relied heavily on original music was Bell Atlantic Mobile’s "Omnibus," directed by Jeff Preiss of bicoastal Epoch Films. Although it didn’t feature a major recording artist, it did rely on a re-recorded version of the Fleetwood Mac song "Don’t Stop." The music was arranged and produced by John Trivers and Elizabeth Myers of Trivers/ Myers Music, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Before joining Bozell, Chinich spent 10 years at Chiat/Day, where he eventually became director of broadcast production. He then worked in that capacity at Merkley Newman Harty, New York.
"My biggest asset is the ability to attract really smart, really talented people to come work with me," he says. "The downside of kids today in this business is they get out of college, go into advertising, and that’s their career. … The more diverse a background you have, the better you can be at this job. I feel like you walk around with blinders on if you get out of school and go into this business and you don’t do other stuff. You can always learn the technical stuff, but you can’t teach technical people to be creative."t
