Press : "Shoot Online"
Director Steve Burrows Going greatguns In The U.S.
VENICE, Calif., April 11, 2008, Robert Goldrich --- Director Steve Burrows-who's been active in commercials on both sides of the Atlantic-has signed with greatguns:usa for stateside spot representation. Best known for his comedic work spanning the ad, feature and short film disciplines, Burrows comes over from Backyard Productions, Venice, Calif. (which he joined in 2001), but continues to maintain both his European affiliations, Mustard Film Company in London, and MTP in Glasgow, as well as his representation deal in Canada with Toronto shop Wilfrid Park.
At press time, Burrows was about to embark on a Coors U.K. assignment out of The Leith Agency, Edinburgh, Scotland, via MTP. Much of his recent work has been done in Europe such as humorous fare for Subway U.K. out of Scotland agency Frame, and ongoing work for Bachelors soup from London ad shop Delaney Lund Knox Warren, Unilever's Knorr Beef Tonight and Chicken Tonight for DDB London, and energy drink Irn-Bru via The Leith Agency, featuring an offbeat character named Raoul who has become a bit of a pop culture favorite in Scotland.
Burrows, who lives in the U.S., has also managed to take on his share of American ad assignments, including 21st Century Insurance for agency MRM Gillespie in Princeton, N.J., Washington Mutual via Los Angeles-based Chinese specialty agency IW Group, and earlier he helmed the last two "Whassup" spots for Budweiser out of DDB Chicago.
Burrows' prowess in comedy has been reflected in SHOOT's "The Best Work You May Never See" gallery over the years, among the prime entries being Accuserve's "Paper Tray" in which a heavyset woman tries to photocopy her backside only to find that the machine cannot hold her heft (this spot went on to garner an AICP Show honor); "Bob & Ronna," an edgy bathroom-humored ad for a Baltimore realtor; and one of the original Knorr commercials. The Accuserve and "Bob & Ronna" jobs were for Baltimore agency Eisner Underground. Knorr came out of DDB London and introduces us to a family that has adopted a panda. The problem is that the husband thought that the "adoption" would only entail donating some money to a politically correct, wildlife-minded charity in China. Instead, the adoption turned out to be literal as the family now has a new member-a panda bear. Actually, it's a talkative, presumptuous guy in a panda bear suit who clearly rubs the hubby the wrong way.
Comedy roots
Burrows sports a background as an actor in commercials and as a writer/performer of sketch comedy. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, he moved to Chicago where he studied with the now late Del Close as a member of Close's main troupe at Improv Olympics. Five years later, Burrows moved to Los Angeles to join up with The Groundlings, another famed improvisational group, which served to further hone his comedy and performance skills.
Soon after relocating to the West Coast, Burrows auditioned for and became a contestant on Wheel of Fortune. His performance on the game show was humiliating as he became known as the only player to be invited back without winning any money as well as the sole one to buy five vowels and not solve the puzzle. This experience provided fodder for what became Burrows' first short film, Soldier of Fortune, a pseudo documentary which hit the film festival circuit in '92-'93, earning positive reviews as well as a cease-and-desist order from Merv Griffin Productions (producer of Wheel of Fortune). Burrows said the film was his heartfelt "love letter" to Wheel of Fortune.
The buzz over Soldier of Fortune eventually led to Chump Change, an independent film that Burrows scripted, directed and acts in. The quirky comedy is a fast-paced satire of the movie business, with a romantic storyline. The movie-which was picked up by Miramax for distribution and stars Tim Matheson, Traci Lords, Fred Willard and Jerry Stiller-centers on a novice screenwriter (Burrows) from Milwaukee who heads to Hollywood seeking fame and fortune only to end up in rewrite hell.
Chump Change got the attention of Backyard Productions which successfully introduced Burrows to commercialmaking. Over the past few years, Burrows has further diversified with European work but he now joins greatguns to help him garner more American ad gigs.
Burrows said he was drawn to greatguns:usa executive producers Tom Korsan and Tom Lowe, as well as the high caliber of the talent on the shop's directorial roster.
Ongoing exploration
Meanwhile Burrows continues to explore new forms. This past fall his demo pilot for TV series The King Kaiser Show won best alternative show and Audience Award honors at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. The latter award included a $12,000 prize.
The series-which centers on a talk/variety show on camera and behind the scenes-is described by Burrows as being a poor man's Larry Sanders Show (the hit series starring comedian Garry Shandling). The "poor" quality, Burrows, said, is reflected in lower level performing talents (think American Idol rejects, and Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose in terms of acts repped by its protagonist talent agent character).
Burrows joins a greatguns:usa directorial roster that includes Claudia Alberdi, Gurinder Chadha, Luis Gerard, Mike Goode, T.J. Hall, Ram Madhvani, Mike Ozier, Eden Tyler, Lizelle Wagner and Who?
The shop's sales force consists of Andrea Marcucci and Bridget Spalding on the East Coast, Maureen Butler in the Midwest, Gossip in Texas and the South and Jeanie Dimaggio on the West Coast.