Director Gary Freedman has joined RESET Content for representation in the U.S. He has directed for such brands as Nike, Heineken, McDonald’s, IKEA, Doritos, and Harvey Nichols. For the latter Freedman recently helmed the centerpiece spot for the “Britalia” campaign from adam&eveDDB, London.
The Harvey Nichols piece features a famous dramatic scene from a Luigi Pirandello play ("As You Desire Me"), where an Italian couple, Salter and the Unknown Woman, are engaging in a passionate debate in Italian. Harvey Nichols has taken comedic license by altering English subtitles to suggest that the couple are cursing Harvey Nichols for taking the best of their Italian fashion (Valentino dresses and Versace underwear), beauty (Armani lipsticks) and food (artisan pasta), leaving them with nothing to wear or to eat at Christmas. The original footage shows the couple breaking up, but the cleverly placed re-subtitles depict the characters looking to seek revenge on “Harvey Nichols” who are “thieving rats.” The English subtitles bear no relation to what it is actually being said.
The film cleverly ties in with Harvey Nichols’ celebration of Italy this winter, as consumer research conducted by the U.K. retailer has shown that Italian products are the items that their customers look to for gifting at Christmas. Sales of Italian wines, foods such as Panettone and luxurious olive oils, leather goods and accessories from Italian fashion brands, sky rocket at this time of year.
Freedman made his first directorial mark as a member of the Glue Society collective. He has been directing solo for the past six years, exhibiting a deft sense of humor and storytelling. Prior to joining RESET, Freedman had been handled by Biscuit Filmworks in the American ad market.
