Production affiliations: US - Bicoastal Smuggler / UK & Europe - Independent Films
Years directing: Pro since 1997
Shoot days in 2001: 45
Geography: Texan, based in New York
Personal favorite piece: Basement Jaxx "Red Alert" ("It's Fahrenheit 451 meets Mayor Guiliani")

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Brian Beletic, perhaps the most sought-after talent who remained untethered following the 2001 Propaganda/Satellite disintegration, preferred a three-month hiatus to grabbing the first fat signing bonus to come his way.

Ultimately, he opted to join forces with his fellow Propaganda survivor Brian Carmody in the newly launched commercial company Smuggler.

"Brian has been my primary commercial rep since 1998. I declared him my career manager because he's a long-term thinker and it makes sense why he would be starting this company. When Propaganda went down, I patiently held out until he started his thing," says Beletic.

Beletic is back actively quoting commercial and video projects after taking a break from a very hectic three-year run.

A bold move for such a young director?

Perhaps. But Beletic's reel belies directing skills well beyond his 27 years.

Commercials for international clients including Bacardi, Reebok, Nike, MTV and Levi's and videos for Dead Prez, Black Eyed Peas and Cee Lo attest Beletic's narrative and visual acumen. Recent work highlights his range; a campaign for brand Jordan out of W+K, New York (see Boards, February 2002) makes use of cutting- edge software to link visuals with music, while his French Ikea campaign for Leagas Delaney Paris (see Boards, November 2001) drives home the need for tidy living with comedy that is all at once tasteless and timeless.

"Good ideas are easy to come up with, it's the opportunity to do them that's the hard part," says Beletic. "One thing that keeps me from exploding is having an exciting movie script into which I put all of my inspirations."

He'll say little about the script, but Beletic does describe the one project he directed during this hiatus, "Closet Freak," a psychedelic funk video for Atlanta/Dirty South rapper Cee-Lo.

"The video was inspired by old funk music clips from before music videos existed," says Beletic, referencing the old clips, driven by performances and graphics created for funk acts like Sly And The Family Stone and Isaac Hayes.

Additionally, Beletic has been happily maintaining an automated outdoor photo booth at St. Mark's and 2nd in NYC; the advanced photo station permits passersby to have their photos taken with everyone from Saddam Hussein to Dubya and Jed Bush.