Director/cameraman Ericson Core has joined Venice-based production house Wild Plum for commercials and branded content. Core comes over from Backyard, another Venice shop, where he spent the past three years. His move to Wild Plum marks a reunion for him with several artisans there, most notably company executive producer/partner Shelby Sexton.
Core and Sexton first worked together at the venerable Plum Productions, a mainstay commercial production house. Plum closed in 2007 after 26 years in business. Around the time that Plum shuttered operations, Sexton and CFO Alisa Allen teamed to form Wild Plum, bringing along several of the directors who comprised Plum’s core roster.
A year earlier, Core had left Plum and went to Backyard. During the tail end of his Plum tenure, he diversified beyond commercialmaking into features, helming his first theatrical movie, the well received Invincible (starring Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear and Elizabeth Banks), which was based on the true story of a football fan who went on to become an impact player on the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. Core both directed and shot the film. For the latter, he tapped into his experience as an accomplished feature cinematographer (The Fast and The Furious, Daredevil).
After wrapping the film, Core resumed his spot directorial career at Backyard. On the heels of directing a successful sports movie, Core drew sports-oriented work in the ad arena, including Home Depot’s “Anthem” featuring Olympic athletes for The Richards Group, Dallas; a Power Bar commercial featuring Olympian swimmer Michael Phelps, out of Publicis Dallas; and such Gillette spots as “The Moment” and “The Walk” for BBDO New York and featuring the likes of Derek Jeter, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods.
Another staple of Core’s commercialmaking has been car work, dating back to his DP days which included serving as cinematographer on The Fast and The Furious. Among Core’s recent directorial credits in the automotive discipline is BMW’s “Balance” for Publicis Dallas. He also directed a Fast and the Furious-like action spot titled “Getaway” for Travelocity and agency McKinney in Durham, N.C., which entailed his recruiting the services of a colleague, Mic Rodgers who served as stunt coordinator/second unit director on The Fast and The Furious.
Outside the automotive and sports-themed genres, Core also directed a commercial cut from documentary cloth for Unicel, a boutique cell phone service company specializing in more rural locations, via agency Kelliher Samets Volk in Burlington, VT. “There was no money yet we knew that we needed additional time so we operated lean–a five-person crew–and were able to stretch a one-day shoot budget into a five day-shoot in upstate New York and parts of Georgia,” related Core. “The five days were well spent, capturing portraitures and emotional moments with real people in rural locations.”
Core values
The Unicel spot is among Core’s personal favorites. “It all comes down to storytelling and we were able to capture people’s stories,” said Core. “Though the budget was limited, we were able to make things work. I like to roll up my sleeves and work, and we all did that knowing the challenge we faced with limited resources. We would up with a truthful, beautiful spot.”
Core has what is shaping up as a decent-sized window of availability for commercials now that he has joined Wild Plum. His feature schedule has been pushed back to sometime later in 2010 when he will begin directing his second theatrical movie, this one for the XXX franchise starring Vin Diesel.
Asked how his feature filmmaking experience has impacted his spot directorial endeavors, Core observed, “I have never been a director who can come in, shoot and leave early. For features and commercials, it all comes down to working hard and doing tremendous prep. In features you pull all nighters in preparation for the shoot day. Prep is needed so that the actual shoot can not only be the execution of that preparation but also so that you are prepared enough to have room for discovery and experimentation. That’s what we’re paid for as directors–not just showing up on the set when the camera rolls. I regard every commercial as a mini-feature–with a story, message and emotional resonance.”
On the flip side in terms of how his commercialmaking has influenced his features, Core related, “It’s important to have your own auteur vision but commercials teach you that having a bigger overview is key. That overview shows you the importance of collaboration. As much as you need to be an auteur on a film, you cannot work with your head in the sand. Collaborating with agencies and clients has taught me that. On a feature, you need to work with the studio, the head of creative, the production manager so that you can achieve your goals and can hear and be responsive to other people and their ideas on all levels. That’s how you bring it in on budget and produce a fantastic film.”
As earlier alluded to, Core both directed and lensed Invincible, his feature helming debut. Reflecting on that atypical dual role as feature director/cinematographer, Core said he enjoyed the multitasking. “It wasn’t about controlling the visual style. It wasn’t design over essence. I found I had more time as a director. There’s a lot of communication between a director and DP that I was able to eliminate. So I had more time, more opportunity to work as a narrative director, to work with the actors. I could also tell the story visually when needed.”
Core joins a Wild Plum directorial roster that also include Jan De Bont, Kieran Walsh, Shane Drake and Matt Goodman. Sandy Haddad is the company’s head of production.
