Academy and Emmy Award-winning director Jeff Brown has signed an agreement for exclusive representation with Tag Team Films in Los Angeles, an industry leading producer of kids and toy commercials. Brown, on staff at Rocket Films, New York City, for the past 10 years, has directed well over 100 toy spots, many involving very young children, including work for Fisher-Price, Hasbro, Tyco and Playskool.
Jeffs meticulous work amidst kid-chaos suits us here at Tag Team, said Cindie Wright Banks, exec producer of Tag Team. Jeff is well loved by his clients for his ability to bring out the natural, charming humor in toddlers. His non-toy work also reveals his superior skill and humor.
A number of forward-thinking agencies are now looking at directors who have traditionally done toys for non-toy work, Wright added. Agency ceos and creative directors are recognizing the enormous skill, patience and the flawless execution of these directors who are in fact delivering extraordinary work in spite of retails restricted budgets and complicated network guidelines.
Tag Team also represents directors Kevin Dole, Howard Rose, Jamie Mortellaro, Ernie Mosteller and Maria Reed, as well as director/efx-team The Steam Team.
Noting that the majority of his recent work has been for East Coast agencies, Brown said that part of the reason for his move to Tag Team was to broaden his reach to other markets. There are a lot of good toy accounts on the West Coast and thats a whole new world for me, he said.
After interning with Peter Weir on DEAD POETS SOCIETY, he made his professional directorial debut with a short called MOLLYS PILGRIM and promptly won an Academy Award. He followed that with a CBS SchoolBreak Special, titled WHAT IF IM GAY?, that brought him a pair of Emmys. Suddenly a hot commodity, he began working in episodic television, earning a third Emmy Award for THE WONDER YEARS.
In 1993, Brown was hired by New York agency Griffin Bacal to direct a developmental short titled JOHN RITTER PRESENTS THE SECRET WORLD OF THE VERY YOUNG. From there he went onto direct spots for the agencys Hasbro account. The following year, he joined exec producer Jeff Switzers Rocket Films, drawing assignments from other agencies with large toy accounts including Young & Rubicam, DArcy and DDB Worldwide.
Tag Team is represented by Lauren McNamera in the Midwest including Texas; Pangeas Stu Strenbach on the east coast, and Carol Budd in the Southeast. Tag Team Films is located at 1334 Westwood Boulevard, Suite 9, Los Angeles, California 90024. For more information, call (310) 470-0491.
