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Speaking of water – Wes Anderson directed these Dasani commercials: http://www.dasani.com/flash.htm

Wes Anderson directed these Dasani commercials

He did? What a shill. This is one of the most cynical products of recent times.

Obviously, Wes had nothing to do with the 'creation' of this 'product', but let this be a lesson to him not to sell his talent to scheisters in the future.

Can someone help me down now; I can't reach the stirrups.

timothy.newsum wrote:Speaking of water – Wes Anderson directed these Dasani commercials: http://www.dasani.com/flash.htm

Commercials are evil. Wes Anderson (#300) is now evil.

"We have to declare real war against commercials." - W. Herzog (#287)

All joking aside, I watched those commercials, and unfortunately they seem especially evil. Wow. And if you browse around the link given above you can see pictures of Wes Anderson directing on the set. So it is for real.

Of course, no truly great director has ever played a hand in advertising or commercials...

http://greg.org/images/kurosawa_suntory.jpg

http://www.jerezdecine.com/Imagenes/imagenart/orson.jpg

Oh...

Oh, yeah, I forgot about those. But to be fair, Kurosawa and Welles were truly hard-up at the times they appeared in those ads. Anderson chose to make that ad and at a time when he was coming off substantial hit movies. Also, who the fuck wants to see an advert about water?! Isn't it bad enough that Coca Cola already advertises a product that is know and consumed by every tastebud-challenged bozo on the planet, without feeling the need to 'create' a product, which is, in fact, a prime necessity in the lives of humans. At least the booze that Akira and Orson were promotiong were original beverages. Wes shoulda thunk twice, says I.

Welles hated making commercials. The legendary outtakes from the Frozen Peas ad are still hilarious!

Fellini directed commercials for Barilla, Campari, and Banca di Roma.

...not to continue this conversation, but Ingmar Bergman directed commercials for Bris soap, and Errol Morris has probably directed more commercials than films.

I think Anderson's commercials are pretty good, except for the one that uses "fierce" as a buzz word. That's wrong.

There's no such thing as a "good" commercial advertisment in the current age. Before the 80s, it was harmless, I suppose and Bergman most surely needed the green (I'm not sure about Fellini's financial situation, but he was a crazy Italian, afterall!), but for apparent filmmaking auteurs to be selling their ass to Coca Cola is weak, I feel. What's next: David Cronenberg directing a Pop Tarts ad?

Obviously, it is worse when a multi-millionaire Pop/Rock/Movie "Superstar" appears in an ad for obscene amounts of Money, trying to sell you shit you don't need, they just come across like a dickhead. Meanwhile, people die of starvation in other parts of the not-so-prosperous World. Advertising is the domain of hacks, Satanists and artistic goobers. There are tens of thousands of people like that in Hollywood, why Wes Anderson for Coca Cola's filtered tap-water?! Ha ha ha! Hilarious, but also very sad.

Sorry for the soapboxing, but when ya gat sumthin' ta say...

Whoa. Flashback to The Critic with all the Welles / frozen peas discourse.

I also think we should remember all the directors / celebrities who shoot / star in all those commercials and ads in Japan so that unwitting Americans are completely unaware of their selling out. They make selling out a covert operation, mission impossible style.

Of course, I'll always have a soft spot for this one...

http://www.adclassix.com/images/66smirn ... vooren.jpg

You have to remember why a lot of these directors did whore themselves out to big business--to finance their film work. It's easy to dismiss them as sellouts from a soapbox, waxing theoretical but should Welles or Kurosawa have subordinated themselves to the studios systems in order keep the finances flowing? So maybe they sold out to the lesser evil in order to keep working. And, really, if someone's obsessive enough to switch beverage brands because Wes Anderson or Woody Allen may or may not endorse the stuff they deserve to be parted from their money. Everyone thought it was cute when George Foreman sold out and did that informercial. And then there's people like Bob Dylan who just sell out to be funny. Anyway, it's hardly a black and white issue.

You can find Errol Morris's commercial work on his website here.

Yawn.

The ads are terrible, esp in light of the article I'm sure someone posted/linked about how the advertising company thought the writing/concept reflected Anderson's work, BUT they're not Wes Anderson drinks Coca-Cola filtered tap water ads. They're ads he produced, his name is not on them, he is not promoting the product.

As much as anyone else I hate that Coke and Pepsi have managed to force themselves into the forefront of the bottled water industry, just as they have with juice, since not everyone wants their endless parade of sugar water products. I hate Nike too, but in line with what Doctor Sunshine pointed out, I'd rather Spike Lee do those ads and make the movies he wants to make, even if I haven't made the effort to see any of them in awhile, than to have him stuck making Soul Plane II.

In "alternative" music, Steve Albini rails on and on about the evils of major labels and blah blah blah, but he produces (or in his words, records) plenty of major label records for the $ (he's made sure to note he takes a flat fee instead of a percentage, hence making a lot less on something like Nirvana's In Utero than a regular record producer) in order to finance doing things he wants to do. The same can be said about John Cassavetes acting career as a means to support his directing lifestyle.

And on and on.

Gordon McMurphy wrote: What's next: David Cronenberg directing a Pop Tarts ad?

And the Pop Tart either talks or cuts it's way out of it's eater's belly...I love it =D>

I tend to come down on the same side as ben d and Doctor Sunshine. As long as you can't be bought, it's okay, sometimes, to rent yourself.

The Brothers Quay got some of this action as well:
http://www.believemedia.com/
(click on 'directors')

Some of them fit in rather well with the Quays' oeuvre. The Fox Sports spots are surprisingly Quay-esque, and that PDFA spot is probably one of the creepiest anti-drug commercials ever.

Most directors are available for commercial work check out some of these websites:

http://www.moxiepictures.com/home.html

http://www.anonymouscontent.com/anonymouscontent.htm

http://www.villains.com/

http://www.academyfilms.com/index.php

http://www.thedirectorsbureau.com/

http://www.abandapart.com/

+directors like Roy Andersson and Victor Erice have worked almost exclusively in commercials while only making a few important features.

Gordon McMurphy wrote:What's next: David Cronenberg directing a Pop Tarts ad?

Not exactly, but I guess you never saw these:

Bistro and Surveillance 1990, for Cadbury Caramilk
Transformation (Parts 1-5), 1990, for Nike
Hot Showers, Cleaners, Timers and Laundry, 1989, for Ontario Hydro

The Nike series was notable for also featuring contributions (via other directors) from William S. Burroughs and Iggy & The Stooges.

Anyone know where to see any of the Erice commercials?

Ah jeez -- can't believe I forgot about Japander.com:

"Pander:n., & v.t. 1. go-between in clandestine amours, procurer; one who ministers to evil designs. 2 v.i. minister (to base passions or evil designs, or person having these)

Japander:n.,& v.t. 1. a western star who uses his or her fame to make large sums of money in a short time by advertising products in Japan that they would probably never use. ~er (see synecure, prostitute) 2. to make an ass of oneself in Japanese media."

More movie stars than directors, but keep an eye out for Luc Besson, George Lucas and Quentin Tarantino.

I can't see the problem in making commercials, no matter which side of the camera you are on. I'm sure that in the course of making movies these days, most directors make bigger compromises to their artistic vision by bowing to commercial considerations and the dictates of producers and financiers. It is far worse to me for someone to include product placement in a movie than it is to do a commercial openly.

If they need the money to make ends meet while they wait for the next project to get the green light, then why not direct commercials? The idea of anyone in the movie business "selling out" seems odd to me, when you have to sell out by definition to get into the business in the first place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spCknVcaSHg

had this been posted somewhere already? if so: apologies.
it's got Jason Schwarzman, so I figured this would be the appropriate thread.

Uh, Wes shills for Master Card? I think it's an excellent parody of his films, but it's still a little disappointing to see him doing a credit card commercial. Oh well.

I think its great to see a commercial with such style. kudos Mr. Anderson, make that money.

He's a lot better in front of the camera than I thought he'd be given how awkward and hesitant he often appears in interviews. And it's a fairly amusing and remarkably accurate parody of his recent work. But still, there's something unsavoury and rather grubby about the whole thing.

That's DAY FOR NIGHT in the background... right?

I liked it a lot... and I usually hate commercials. IF you notice it, which you probably have, he does the whole "walking conversation" thing like in the end of all of his films... Also, yes I believe that is Day for Night... And for some reason I want that suit he's wearing...

I'm pretty sure Wes Anderson did a commercial for Ikea a few years ago as well. So did Spike Jonze if I recall. And Spike Lee has definitely done his fair share of commerical work as well. Hey, if it helps fund their films I'm all for it.