LOS ANGELES-Director Tom De Cerchio and his production company, Incubator, have joined bi-coastal production and post production company Original. De Cerchio is one of the most successful comedy directors in advertising and a winner of three AICP Awards among many other honors. His Bud Light spot, Limo, is in the Advertising Hall of Fame and is listed among USA Today's Top 20 Spots of All-Time.
Original Partner/Executive Producer Joe Piccirillo called De Cerchio a superb storyteller whose work continues to improve and evolve. "I have been a fan of Tom since we were both at the same production company in early 90's," Piccirillo says. "I am thrilled to have him be part of the Original family. Tom's work has always been able to stay so current and feel fresh."
De Cerchio said that he felt that Original has positioned itself well and offers the resources and support that directors need to succeed. "I am very impressed with how they have responded to changes in the industry and their plans for moving forward," he observes.
In his first project with Original, De Cerchio has directed a multi-spot package for game-maker Spinmaster and its titles Logo and Quelf. The spots are prime examples of De Cerchio's talent for understated humor and surprising twists. One of the Logo spots, for example, shows the unusual way a man became familiar with Ford's branding-as a youth he was busted by his girlfriend's cop father, who had him spread-eagle over his car's name plate.
De Cerchio said the campaign involved a very open collaboration between him, Original's production team and the client's in-house agency. "The scenarios were all very funny, and very well written," he says.
De Cerchio has been directing via Incubator since 2002 and through it has produced notable work for such brands as Sony, Burger King, Kia, Bud Light and Renault. One of his most recent projects was a viral campaign for the comedy series Scott and Zander's Crazy Night. In one spot, actor Tony Danza tries to convince the comedy duo that a certain Elton John song was not written about him. They insist the lyrics are "Hold me closer, Tony Danza." The spot reached "immortal" status on the website Funny or Die (meaning it attracted more than 100,000 hits) and was also recently featured on the AOL home page. In addition to his three AICP Awards, De Cerchio has won One Show Gold, Communication Arts and D&AD awards. He also made the Gunn Report in 2009 for Midas.
De Cerchio, who began his career as a creative with TBWA/Chiat/Day, has also enjoyed considerable success as a feature film director and screenwriter. His credits as director include Celtic Pride, starring Damon Wayans and Dan Aykroyd. He also directed short Nunzio's Second Cousin, a black comedy about hate crimes, that earned a spot in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection, and screened at the Sundance and Telluride film festivals. He is represented for features and television by Dan Farah of Farah Films Management and Trevor Astbury at Paradigm.
About Original
Original is led by executive producers Bruce Mellon, Joe Piccirillo, Marc Lasko and Jeff Devlin, and maintains production offices in Los Angeles and New York City. The company's post production division, headed by Jonathan Del Gatto, provides editorial, design, graphics and visual effects services. Original is represented on the West Coast by Options, (310) 578-9383; on the East Coast by Jeff Devlin, (212) 832 2271 ; in the Midwest by KK Reps (312) 533-4047; and in Texas by Jack Reed, (214) 213-8249. For more information, call (310) 445-9000 or (212) 832-2271, or visit www.originalfilm.com.