Production affiliations: Internationally - RSA Films / France - The Gang
Years Directing: 14
Shoot days in 2001: 27
Geography: British, based in London
Favorite spot: Johnnie Walker "Tightrope"

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British graphic designer turned director Laurence Dunmore has not only hit the US commercial scene running, he's also secured his first feature project.

Dunmore, an established UK ad vet with a knack for poetic visuals executed with both photographic and graphic flair, has directed AT&T's "Mlife" campaign for O&M, New York and BMW's "Focus" for Fallon so far this year, and is primed to step behind the viewfinder for The Libertine, his first feature.

Despite other commercial jobs on the horizon, Dunmore says the bulk of his efforts will be going towards his first film, which he hopes will shoot this winter. The script was brought to him by John Malkovich, who Dunmore befriended shooting the spot "Tailor" for Eurostar out of TBWA/London. Malkovich's Mr. Mudd Productions will produce the film.

"One of the most rewarding things is working with different people. The only thing I can offer as a raw talent is my passion and my enthusiasm for each project. That goes a long way to achieving what we want to do as filmmakers," says Dunmore. "[With commercials], you are selling things to people that they don't need. You are trying to communicate with those people - and with the client, through the agency who has decided this is the best way of communicating it. What you have to do from my point of view is bring that something extra nobody else could have brought to the spot."

There have been spots, however, that Dunmore has connected with on an emotional and artistic level, as demonstrated on recent work for BMW. "Focus" features a sleek 7 Series carving through Castenada-esque desert terrain. A man relates a cryptic story of the locales he's toured, while graphic and film elements add metaphorical substance to his tale. As it turns out this car fan is really parked and giving another driver directions dramatized by his love of the journey.

"We shot it in Bakersfield [Calif.] which initially brought slight hesitation from the agency and the client," says Dunmore.

"I told them that the idea is that you are transported by the drive, so why not shoot it somewhere like Bakersfield, just to give us a different edge? The car is the drama, so I wanted to make the scenery almost as bland as possible. It actually photographed really beautifully."

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