Whether you’re watching her Paris Hilton-themed documentary Paris, Not France, the new promo for Macy Gray’s “Beauty In The World”, or the McDonald’s spot “Breathing Room”, director Adria Petty’s signature is apparent. Her work reflects versatility with FX, graphic shotmaking and original artful styling. Now Petty brings that innovative visual technique and contemporary storytelling aesthetic to bicoastal aW H I T E L A B E Lproduct, where she’s just signed on for commercial representation.
“My creative roots are in New York,” says Petty, a Los Angeles native who attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts for graduate film school and has since been bicoastal. “Ellen [Jacobson-Clarke] was my first EP. We have a great relationship. I want to focus on beauty and fashion, and aW H I T E L A B E Lproduct knows that world well.”
Petty’s commercial highlights to date delve into that genre. They include playful, fantastical spots for Target—”Alexander McQueen” and “Portal”— and Converse’s “Secret”, to note only a few. The latter, says Petty, was a love letter to her neighborhood in New York’s East Village. “Secret” features a teenage schoolgirl putting a twist on her look by restyling her existing wardrobe. Her Converse sneakers remain the same, leaving her friends none the wiser.
“Adria has matured into a progressive and sophisticated filmmaker,” enthuses Ellen Jacobson-Clarke, Partner/EP, aW H I T E L A B E Lproduct. “We’re so excited to have the opportunity to re-connect and collaborate with her. Adria is one of those directors who is always a step ahead, thinking how expand a project to reach all media platforms. She’s a great asset in the digital content landscape.”
Petty began her directing career doing music videos for Regina Spektor, the internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter and pianist. The two have collaborated on nearly a dozen promos and are currently working on a full-length concert film. Petty has also directed promos for Duffy (“Mercy”), The Veronicas (“4ever”), the Ditty Bops (“Wishful Thinking”), and Beyoncé (“Sweet Dreams”), among numerous other musical artists. And she’s currently prepping two commercials for international retailer C&A, advertising its partnership with Dereon by Beyoncé.
Petty says she enjoys documentary absurdists’ work in advertising, and points to “Slingshot” for Hyundai Sonata, which features a teenager propelled on a life-sized slingshot, as one of her current favorites. It was Petty’s stint in the marketing department at Warner Music that lead to the opportunity to make a documentary about Paris Hilton. Paris, Not France, which debuted at Toronto Film Festival, also screened earlier this month at Tribeca Film Festival. “I like spectacle,” Petty offers. “And making the Paris film was surreal because not many people have a life like that.”
Petty admires filmmaking pioneers such as George Méliés, Alfred Hitchcock and Luis Buñuel. She also appreciates director Danny Boyle and cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who is noted for his work in digital. “I’m very interested in the craft of old cinema and the opportunity in the new digital world,” Petty explains, noting that she maintains her own Venice, CA.-based studio where she’s cultivated her distinctive editing style and hands-on approach with practical and digital FX. “I look for ways to bring classic and contemporary filmmaking together, to make my work feel more personal, more analog.
“Directing comes naturally to me,” she concludes. “I love people. I care about the consumer, the clients, the musicians. I like to feel a connection. Film anticipates a viewer. It’s collaborative.”
