Comedy director Ron Lazzeretti has joined STORY for exclusive, national representation. A native Chicagoan, Lazzeretti has broad experience as a commercial director and agency creative director with credits including Chevy, Coors Light, KFC, A&W Root Beer and Taco Bell. He has additionally enjoyed success as an independent filmmaker, writer, producer and musician. He also leads Hog Butcher, a creative services company made up of comedy artists and improv artists from Chicago’s comedy community.
Lazzeretti got his start as a director while working as a creative at Chicago agency Eisaman, Johns & Laws. He went onto co-found the production company Two Olives and also directed through Chicago-based Spoke Films.
Along the way, Lazzeretti developed a nuanced touch for comedy and a command for directing talent, including pros, non-pros, celebrities and kids. Outside advertising, Lazzeretti is co-creator and director of the popular web series The Graveyard Show starring David Pasquesi and Christian Stolte as a custodian and security guard who share revelations, epiphanies and confessions “while the rest of the world sleeps.” The Chicago Tribune called it “an existential gem.” “I like it for its simplicity,” he said. “I’m a huge fan of simplicity. Whether it’s a fifiteen second commercial or longform video, I love a story that’s simply told.”
Lazzeretti wrote and directed Something Better Somewhere Else¸ an independent film that the late critic Roger Ebert called “delightful.” He also wrote and produced The Merry Gentleman, starring Michael Keaton and Kelly MacDonald, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and earned positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and other outlets.
In discussing his move to STORY, Lazzeretti said that it provides him a platform to broaden the scope of his commercial work. He described STORY’s Mark Androw as being “a smart executive producer who gets what I do and appreciates what I bring to the process. He knows the business, has enjoyed a lot of success and does it the right way. I’m glad to have this opportunity.”
STORY is represented on the East Coast by Ilene Silberman, in the Midwest by Amy McIntyre, in the Southeast by Miller + Associates, and in the Southwest by Gossip!
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