DIRECTORS ONCE AGAIN THE FOCUS
OF AICP LECTURE SERIES
Alex Bogusky to Moderate Program with Star Directors

NEW YORK, MAY 13, 2004 - Returning to its roots, The Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), will focus solely on directors of television commercials in this year’s AICP Lecture Series, the morning program that is half of the famed industry event, the AICP Show & Lecture Series. Crispin Porter + Bogusky Executive Creative Director Alex Bogusky will moderate the program, which also features award-winning directors Kuntz & Maguire of MJZ, Andrew Douglas of Anonymous Content and Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks, and takes place, Monday, June 14th, at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (The Met).

“The Lecture Series always looks at what’s going on in our industry,” said Matt Miller, president and CEO of AICP. “For the past several years, we’ve been examining business trends. One thing that is immune to market trends is creativity. It’s always there; it’s the driving force behind all marketing communications. And who better to demonstrate the power of creativity in the marketplace than the commercial filmmakers who are creating the visual images we see every day?”

Alex Bogusky, whose agency has become an award-winning juggernaut since he came aboard, will be the guest moderator at the Lecture Series, introducing the speakers and using his unique point of view as an agency creative director to draw out the directors during the question-and-answer session. The son of graphic designers, Bogusky ran his own design company before joining what was then Crispin and Porter Advertising as a senior art director in 1988. He was named a partner in 1997. The Miami (FL) agency, which now has an office in Venice (CA) as well, was the most honored agency in 2003, and sports a client list that includes IKEA, MINI, Molson Beer, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Burger King, Borders Books and Music, among others. It is also the creator of the now-legendary Truth anti-tobacco campaign, hailed by many as the most effective social marketing effort to date. When he isn’t crafting attention-grabbing campaigns, Bogusky, a South Florida native, is likely to be found on a motorcycle or a surfboard.

Kuntz & Maguire, the professional name of Tommy Kuntz and Mark Maguire, first paired up in 1995, when they worked for Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners. The collaboration was a success, as evidenced by the many honors their work garnered and by the appearance of their names on Variety’s 1998 “Gotham 50,” a list of New Yorkers “to watch” in the entertainment industry. From KB, they took their award-winning partnership to MTV, where, as writers/directors, they produced hundreds of promos for MTV shows, including “LoveLine” and “The Real World.” Narrowing in on directing as their goal the two joined Propaganda Films in 1999, and were signed by MJZ (Morton Jankel Zander) in 2001, where their work for such clients as FOX SPORTS, Sprite, Monster.com, Volkswagen and Budweiser continues to earn praise and awards.

Andrew Douglas began his career as a photographer’s assistant to Lord Snowdon in 1975, after earning a fine arts degree. He was a professional photographer in the music and publishing industries for the next ten years, after which he formed a company with his brother Stuart. Working as the Douglas Brothers, they produced highly original and acclaimed pictures both for magazines and advertising campaigns, and exhibited their work in galleries in New York and London. It was a natural segue for the brothers to shift into live action film, and they started with music videos, before moving on to commercials. Andrew went solo in 1997, and his award-winning style has graced the spots of such advertisers as Nike, Citroën, Equitable Life, Cerruti, American West Airlines, Volvo, United Airlines, Merrill Lynch, Chrysler, Sheraton, Minolta, Coca-Cola , Audi, Ford, Lexus, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Verizon and Vittel (featuring David Bowie).

Noam Murro likes to move. He moved from Jerusalem to New York in 1986. And he moved from architecture—the pace of advancement was too slow for his liking—to advertising, starting in the Big Apple at Goldsmith-Jeffrey, where he got his first taste of directing. He worked as an art director, moving up to associate creative director before leaving the agency for the production side of the business via HKM and later Stiefel & Company. In 2000, he and executive producer Shawn Lacy Tessaro opened Biscuit Filmworks in Hollywood. Twice nominated by the DGA for best commerical director of the year, the multiply honored Murro has directed spots for such disparate clients as Saturn, the Got Milk campaign and Katz’s Deli, all award-winning efforts, as well as FOX SPORTS, Tango, Polaroid, the Sacramento Kings, Adidas, among myriad others.

“This is going to be a fantastic program,” said Joanne Ferraro, managing director of Coppos Films and chairperson of the 2004 AICP Show & Lecture Series. “These are among the top commercial directors in the world. They are also pure filmmakers, representing a whole range of styles from beautifully artistic visions, to dark images, to irony, to light-hearted humor. I’m really looking forward the Lecture Series.”

Established in 1992, in cooperation with The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the AICP Show & Lecture Series has two parts: the morning conference and the evening Show, The Art & Technique of the American Television Commercial. The Show recognizes excellence in 24 categories of commercial filmmaking, and the honored commercials are made part of the permanent archives of MoMA’s Department of Film and Media. While MoMA undergoes construction, the event will take place at the Met.

Support from the AICP Show & Lecture Series sponsors helps make this event possible. Show sponsors are: Corporate Leaders—Directors Guild of America; Eastman Kodak Company, Entertainment Imaging; and Getty Images. Corporate Benefactors—AdAge’s Creativity; American Airlines; Aspen Travel; Beam TV; Blink Digital; ’boards; Click 3x; Company 3; International Duplication Centre, Inc.; Media Services; Producer’s Source; Sacred Noise; SAG/AFTRA; SHOOT; Sony Pictures Studios; The Source Maythenyi; Technicolor Entertainment Services; and Universal Studios. Corporate Patrons—The Ad Age Group; AGT Seven; Amber Music; FastChannel Network; FilmUS; Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz; Hello World Communications; Panavision; rhinofx; and shots.

Tickets are on sale now. Order forms are available at www.aicp.com For further information, call 212-929-3000.

Founded in 1972, the AICP represents, exclusively, the interests of United States companies that specialize in producing commercials in various media-film, video, computer-for advertisers and agencies. The association, with national offices in New York and Los Angeles as well as regional chapters across the country, serves as a strong collective voice for this $5-plus billion industry, disseminating information; representing the production industry within the advertising community, in business circles, in labor negotiations and before governmental officials; developing industry standards and tools; providing professional development; and marketing American production through the AICP Show, The Art & Technique of the American Television Commercial. Now in its 12th year, the AICP Show is an exhibit of the artistry and expertise of commercial filmmakers in the U.S.