A director of HBO's critically acclaimed Six Feet Under, The Sopranos and Sex and the City, Coulter's first foray into commercial direction came as a surprise to some, including himself.

"I really hadn't thought about doing commercials. Years ago I produced them for a guy named Geoffrey Mayo. I had freelance produced for a number of companies over time. I had my fill of commercials and was more focused on the dramatic work."

When bicoastal hungry man first approached Coulter about doing commercials in early 2001, he was too busy directing sitcoms to consider it. By August, the timing worked out better. Coulter was impressed with the idea for the Budweiser "Jersey Guys" campaign and had already been won over by hungry man founder Stephen Orent. "It also had to do with their persistence and reputation as a high-end, classy operation," Coulter adds.

No question that the spots were inspired. It would seem the wildly popular "Whassup" campaign would eventually run out of steam, but DDB Chicago has managed to stay one step ahead of the casual viewer.

Coulter's entries to the First Boards Awards include the now-classic "Whassup Jersey Guys" spot where characters in a local bar greet each other in standard New Jersey parlance, "How you doin'?"

Two other spots demonstrate an evolution that extends beyond character. "Phone Chain" revives the classic "Whassup" situation using mob characters. It kicks off with Jerry who is handed a phone and asked, "You take care of that thing?" He grabs his cell phone and so sets off a chain of events, resulting in calls being made to mobsters on the golf course, in a sauna, and finally, back to Jerry himself, who is left holding two phones. Props to Ned Eisenberg for bearing the whole sweaty package for our cover. Another spot veers even further from the "Whassup" parody format, depicting federal agents listening in to the Jersey Guys' greetings in a van outside the bar. Finally, "Out Of Towner" ran during this year's Super Bowl, featuring a well-meaning yokel who visits the Jersey hangout and misinterprets the locals' greetings for questions.

Sensitive to criticism about offensive stereotyping in The Sopranos after a public outcry last year, Coulter is quick to explain why the ads have struck a chord with Americans.

"People respond to it because people are shown as human beings. The characters seem like a true portrayal of a certain kind of person and it's comical."

Creating characters instead of stereotypes in thirty seconds is no laughing matter. A seasoned drama and comedy director, Coulter had no problem crafting unique characters out of real looking actors cast expressly for this purpose. One of the characters was someone Coulter had noted in an off-broadway play three years earlier.

A background in theatre helps too. Coulter completed a degree in theatre direction from the University of Texas before moving to New York to make his way in film. His acting credentials (he appeared in a few college productions) have given him unique insight into working with a wide range of actors.

Once in New York, Coulter moved from job to job trying to scrape together enough money to make the short film The Hobbs Case, which he describes as "a forty-minute dramatic film noir existential mystery."

"It was hard to parlay my film into the next gig so I still had to work, doing other things. I worked on [TV series] Tales of the Darkside, which lead to an ABC after school special, then New York Under Cover, and a lot of mini things in between, opening the door to television," he says.

As a director, Coulter has been pegged as someone who can portray comedy, drama, and all the subtlety in between.

Vinny Warren, associate creative director with DDB, Chicago, likens the experience of watching Coulter at work to "watching a play."

"I don't think the spots would have worked without Coulter. I couldn't imagine anyone else doing them. He's an amazing director of talent. You really feel it when he's directing, and that really translates onto the TV screen. I was amazed no one had used him before, to be honest.

"Our idea was set in Jersey, The Sopranos is set in Jersey. For Coulter, this idea was right up the street. We didn't want our spots to feel like TV commercials. We wanted that sophistication."

Next, he's slated to direct a dark romantic comedy, In a Heartbeat, for Landscape Films. He'll also be getting back to his Texan roots with Hillbilly Heist (working title), a feature-length comedy in development, based on the true story of rednecks who pull off a $17 million caper.

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