Director Rupert Wainwright has joined Windmill Lane Productions, Santa Monica, for spot representation in the American, Asian and European markets. Wainwright was last repped by now defunct Pavlov Productions, the commercial arm of Culver City-headquartered Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Ever since Sony announced its decision to close Pavlov (SHOOT, 10/8/99, p. 1), assorted houses had been courting Wainwright who’s established himself in both short and longform. In the latter arena, he directed Stigmata, a supernatural thriller starring Patricia Arquette and Gabriel Byrne, which performed well at the box office last year (SHOOT, 9/10/99, p. 7). Another Wainwright-helmed feature, The Sadness of Sex, which capped the ’96 SlamDance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, has been resurrected as entertainment Web site Ifilm.com selected the movie for serialization, with weekly vignettes that began streaming online this past Monday (2/14), Valentine’s Day.
On the ad front, Wainwright just wrapped two Honda commercials featuring Sir Anthony Hopkins via Dentsu Inc., Tokyo. They were produced by Bienglala, a Santa Monica house specializing in work for the Japanese market, and with which Wainwright has had an informal relationship. The package was a follow-up to an earlier Wainwright-helmed, Bienglala-produced, Hopkins-starring spot for Honda and Dentsu last summer.
Wainwright continues to maintain his longstanding formal relationship with The Partners’ Film Company, Toronto, for Canadian agency business. Via Partners’, he recently directed a pair of high energy video game simulation-style spots promoting the opening of the Playdium large-scale, interactive, computer-based entertainment center in Toronto, for TBWA/Chiat/Day, Toronto. Wainwright’s last American ad assignment was a Pavlov-produced, client-direct "Millennium" spot for Walt Disney World, Orlando, Fla.
Wainwright’s directorial portfolio over the years also contains such entries as Reebok’s "Wall of Chang" featuring tennis pro Michael Chang at the Great Wall of China for Leo Burnett Co., Chicago; Gatorade’s "The Wall" starring Michael Jordan via Foote, Cone & Belding, Chi-cago; and the live-action/visual effects short film HIStory, released in conjunction with Michael Jackson’s greatest hits collection.
Windmill Lane executive producer Ben Dossett described Wainwright as being "a brilliant storyteller who seamlessly combines art direction, cinematography and visual effects to heighten each scene. He’s a highly collaborative filmmaker who creates big, intense visuals."
Wainwright, who was at Pavlov from ’96-’99, said that he was drawn to Windmill Lane on several levels. He cited the manageable size of the company, which "is just right for personal attention. It’s also a cool, artistic place rather than a factory. I’m not interested in churning the largest amount of boards. I just want to do good, creative work. It’s important to add new strings to your bow. Ben [Dossett] and [director/company principal] Meiert [Avis] have created an environment that fosters creativity."
Part of that environment, related Wainwright, is access to the creative, visual effects and design talent and technical resources available at Windmill Lane’s autonomous sister shop, Miss Jones, which opened last year (SHOOT, 5/21/99, p. 7). It was Tracy Hauser, an executive producer at Miss Jones, who introduced Wainwright to Dossett and Avis. Wainwright and Hauser worked together at Pavlov when she was executive producer there. A little more than a year ago, Hauser exited Pavlov (SHOOT, 1/29/99, p. 7), a company she helped to launch in ’96.
Prior to Pavlov, Wainwright helmed spots via bicoastal Bedford Falls. Earlier in his career, he maintained now defunct music video house Fragile Films, which made its reputation in the rap field, most notably with performer M.C. Hammer. Wainwright was credited with helping to introduce such cinematic elements as story, character development and period settings to the rap clip genre. His Fragile shop continued to turn out clips while diversifying into commercials via associations with bicoastal/international Propaganda Films and later the now defunct U.S. operation of Limelight Commercials.
Wainwright now joins a Windmill Lane directorial roster that also includes Avis and Richard Bowen. Wainwright added that he hopes to return to doing some music video work via Windmill Lane as an added creative stimulus.
