Production affiliations: Internationally - hungry man
Years directing: 8
Shooting days in 2001: "It was one big long shooting day." In reality, 42.
Geography: American, based in New York
Current favorite spot: "Pageant" for US woman's network Oxygen
On the importance of awards: "If the work hits a chord with the audience, it's generally the same with award show judges, politics aside. I think awards are a very good gauge of what works."

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Perhaps it's the luxury of being one of the most award-winning, prolific and sought-after directors in America (or in fact, the world; Buckley recently directed for Egg Bank, through Mother, London) or perhaps it's a matter of principle, but hungry man co-founder/director Bryan Buckley is adamant that he "won't do treatments."

"[Treatments] are only a theory of what a commercial is going to be," says Buckley. "From day one of the shoot to the edit, how can you know all the factors that change and morph a film on a 15- to 20-page document?"

He prefers open-ended concepts and an agency phone call. "You can tell a lot about an agency via conversation," he says. "I don't usually look at the storyboard until about a day before the pre-pro. You want to keep an open mind, which leaves it open to interpretation."

His offbeat, slightly dark and sometimes over-the-top humor has won numerous awards and brought his commercials to the Super Bowl for four consecutive years. In 2001, five of his spots made the game: Visa "Bacon" featuring Kevin Bacon and Charles Schwab "Home Run King," featuring Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds, both from BBDO New York; and three E*Trade spots from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, including a farewell fanfare for its iconoclastic monkey.

Buckley says that he looks for projects that differ from work he has done before. That's why he jumped at "Pageant" for Oxygen Media from Mullen, Wenham, Mass. "That board came in and I remember going 'Oh Man, I'm not necessarily the right guy for this,' but I just really wanted to get this job," says Buckley.

"Pageant" shows contestants through the ages answering the question, 'What would you do to improve the world?' Snippits of the responses are edited to create one manifesto for accurate media portrayal of women. Shot to look like original footage, Buckley directed 18 original set-ups in two days.

And just how does Buckley stay fresh amid his seemingly endless flow of jobs? "I don't stack up jobs," he says. "I try to avoid prepping multiple jobs at a time, but sometimes around the Super Bowl there are certain realities."

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