Two days prior to first-time nominee Martin De Thurah of Epoch Films winning the DGA Award for Commercials, the Guild held its Meet the Nominees-Commercials panel in L.A. De Thurah was joined by fellow nominees Fredrik Bond of MJZ, John X. Carey of Tool and Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks. A scheduling conflict prevented the remaining nominee, Matthijs van Heijningen of MJZ, from participating in the discussion which was moderated by former DGA winner David Cornell.
But perhaps the most telling remarks attesting to the talent and artistry that goes into commercialmaking came from Vincent Misiano, DGA national VP, who introduced the event. Misiano’s directorial credits include The West Wing, Law & Order, Covert Affairs and The Blacklist. While he has an extensive TV series pedigree, Misiano shared that he was at one time a “mediocre” commercial director which in some respects underscores how daunting it can be to tell a story in 30 or so seconds. He noted that there is a tremendous creative filmmaking artistry required for commercialmaking at its best. Misiano then commented on the panelists’ nominated entries prior to screening them for the industry audience, after which the director panelists discussed their work.
De Thurah’s winning entries were Hennessy’s “The Man Who Couldn’t Slow Down” from Droga5, NY, and Acura MDX’s “Human Race” for Mullen LA. He said of the latter, “The agency sent me a poem to interpret into a commercial.” De Thurah described the experience as “the most experimental shoot” of his career.
First-time nominee Carey had a lone entry, Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” for Ogilvy & Mather, Sao Paulo, which was produced by Paranoid US, his roost prior to Tool. He said the piece was a documentary in self-esteem conducted as “an actual physiological experiment.” He praised both client and agency for realizing going in that the experiment might not work–and not unnaturally forcing the issue.
Bond’s sixth career nomination came for Heineken’s “Voyage” from W+K, Amsterdam, and Johnny Walker’s “From the Future” for BBH London. Bond said that he and the agency creatives “develop as we go along,” ultimately yielding “Voyage.” Essential to that working arrangement is his long track record with the W+K creatives on Heineken–”we have built up a great amount of trust.”
Murro, a seven-time nominee and two-time DGA Award winner, garnered his latest nom for Guinness’ “Basketball” for BBDO NY, DirecTV’s “Kids” for Grey NY, and VW’s “Mask” for Deutsch LA. Murro said that his simple approach is to be “a slave to the concept–that’s the name of the game at the end of the day.”
