Director Tim Greenberg, best known for his brand of smart, surreal comedy, has joined Washington Square Films, New York. He was formerly handled by Park Pictures, New York.
Greenberg’s latest work includes a PSA for the Humane Society, as well as the latest spot in his Tylenol campaign titled “Catalog of Pain.” The first ad, “Catalog of Pain #134,” earned two silver Telly Awards, and was selected for the 2005 One Show Rx Exhibit.
That initial Tylenol assignment came to Greenberg via a circuitous route. His short film, the humorous La Puppe, caught the eye of Tylenol, which selected Greenberg to make a piece about pain for screening at the Tylenol-sponsored 2004 New York Underground Film Festival.
That piece turned out to be “Catalog of Pain #134,” which follows a young woman, obviously in some discomfort, who’s on her way to a doctor’s appointment. All the while, a stick puppet repeatedly asks her how she feels and if she’s better. At the doctor’s office, the physician asks her to describe the pain, suggesting several adjectives. The one she finally responds to is “nagging.”
The Tylenol project got Greenberg’s commercialmaking career rolling. Meanwhile, La Puppe is currently airing on the Independent Film Channel (IFC). The short is a good-natured parody of Chris Marker’s La Jettee, a short made in ’62 about the apocalypse and fate. Greenberg’s offbeat homage to that film is made up entirely of still photographs of a golden retriever and a plush toy dog. In addition to the IFC, La Puppe has run on PBS’ Independent Lens and WNET’s Reel New York.
Greenberg gained inclusion on SHOOT‘s roster of up-and-coming directors in ’04. His directorial experience spans not only commercials and short film fare but also the video game sector. Greenberg’s first big-budget assignment was the CG-laden, live-action sequences for “Riven,” a CD-ROM game that was the sequel to the popular “Myst.”
Prior to directing, Greenberg was a CG artist and animator, and wrote for both advertising and features. He also has documentary roots. He developed an interest in documentary films while attending Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., and in the early ’90s edited some films for journalist Bill Moyers as an intern. After college, Greenberg traveled to Calcutta, India, where he made a short documentary.
Greenberg rounds out a Washington Square directorial roster that consists of Bob Balaban, Jeff Feuerzeig, Peter Sillen, Braden King, Randy Hackett, Steve Fong, Leandro Sanchez and Nick Santana.
