It’s been a wide ranging year in television for director Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international Hungry Man. On one end of the spectrum, he’s about as mainstream television as you can get, reflected in his American Express “Animals” spot starring Ellen DeGeneres for Ogilvy & Mather, New York, winning this year’s primetime Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Furthermore, “Animals” was one of three spots that earned Buckley a Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award nomination as best commercial director of 2006; the other two ads being Burger King’s “Manthem” and “More Mayo” for Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami. It was Buckley’s third career DGA nomination. (He won the DGA Award as best spot director of ’99 and then was nominated again the following year.)
On the flip side, though, juxtaposed with the DGA and the Television Academy honors, Buckley is also making hay in that fledging yet growing web channel community with his Undercover Cheerleaders series, which recently debuted on Hungry Man TV . The satire web channel contains programming created and produced by different directors at Hungry Man, offering them a new creative outlet and a testing ground for show ideas that could see the light of day elsewhere.
For example, Undercover Cheerleaders has already elicited interest from a cable network for possible development as a series. And while on the surface the Undercover Cheerleaders moniker smacks of superficial fluff, the show is in fact a cagey mix of scripted and reality TV, as the cheerleaders–under the cover of being window dressing–explore different facets of life in a way that offers at least food for thought, if not some social commentary, on the world at large.
Meanwhile just as the web channel show appears to be opening up an opportunity on cable, so too did “Animals” help establish a creative rapport and ongoing working relationship between Buckley and DeGeneres. The two are collaborating on an entertainment project, which the director wasn’t yet at liberty to publicly discuss at press time.
Opportunity knocks
Indeed opportunity knocks in today’s marketplace and Buckley is poised for the coterie of talent at Hungry Man to answer. Hungry Man TV was launched to do just that on varied fronts. “For one,” he says, “it simply enables our directors to shoot something. In the past, you’d wait for a spot to come along, or perhaps do a spec commercial. This web channel is a medium to gain exposure for content that’s real and that they can own.”
Additionally, points out Buckley, the web channel can be a proving ground for shows, perhaps laying the foundation for them to be expanded upon and then become full fledged series on cable or broadcast TV.
And, continues Buckley, Hungry Man TV demonstrates that participating directors can create, develop and produce content, working in longer format and with lower budgets than commercials. “It’s the kind of experience that helps give them a leg up if an agency or client is looking for a director to take on a new form of content for an advertiser web channel or any other outlet…We’re branding our directors as creative content developers at a time when the advertising industry is evolving into new areas. Basically we’re branding ourselves–and Hungry Man–on a broader canvas. It sets us apart from being only a commercial production house. It showcases a personality for our directors in their work, providing the market with more insight into what they’re capable of doing.”
For example, notes Buckley, slated to debut this month on Hungry Man TV is animation series Strange Detective Tales, with all four episodes being directed by Gualter Pupo who works out of Hungry Man’s shop in Rio De Janeiro. The show is a further diversification for Pupo, a noted production designer who made his spot directing debut last year (and is featured in this issue’s story on up-and-coming helmers).
“It’s been a great opportunity for me to explore new areas,” relates Pupo of his directorial turn at Hungry Man and the Hungry Man TV assignment. “The learning experience has been wonderful. What more could you ask for than personal and professional growth?”
Buckley also cites an offbeat puppet show which at press time was about to premiere on Hungry Man TV. The director is Hungry Man’s Marcos Siega who’s already demonstrated his longer form chops with episodes of such TV series as Cold Case and Veronica Mars, as well as the feature Pretty Persuasion.
“We have so much writing, directing and creative talent in our offices that it makes sense for us to bring those strengths to bear through something like Hungry Man TV,” explains Buckley. “Talent from our offices in London, Brazil, L.A. and New York are all contributing. The only criterion is the work has to be good–it can be comedy or whatever.”
Similarly, Buckley thinks there are those outside Hungry Man who fit into the equation for Hungry Man TV, specifically agency creatives. “We’d like to get them involved in the process too,” he affirms. “There is so much agency creative talent out there that hasn’t been allowed or been given the opportunity to show what they can do beyond commercials. My hope is that we provide that opportunity for some of these people.”
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