Production affiliations: Internationally - Believe Media
Years directing: 11
Shoot days in 2001: 75; 39 in 2002
Geography: US, based in Los Angeles
Favorite spot: BMW "Lingerie"

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Pasadena's Zack Snyder did some math and discovered that since December 2001, he's shot 18 commercials. Some of the work has been done in pools - like a three-spot campaign for Bell Sympatico in Canada via Cossette Communications, while others, like a recent international UPS campaign through McCann Erickson, London, saw Snyder jet-setting to shoots in South Africa and Vietnam.

Snyder has a unique ability to tell a story visually, with little to no dialogue, in a minute or less. Spots like "Lingerie" for BMW and Budweiser "Respect," where the handsomely photographed pictures need no words to muddy the story, clearly help with that reputation. On the other hand, the UPS campaign involves an interesting dialog structure; one character begins speaking, and with each new sentence, the dialog is continued by another actor in the chain.

He says the evolution of his style is not something he has agonized over, rather it has come naturally with time.

"When I was starting out I analyzed the storytelling process tremendously," says Snyder. "Now I try to let it be as intuitive as I can. I think that works best. BMW is a good example. The story itself I told just with shots and I didn't analyze it."

Snyder's fans in the advertising world increasingly call on him to put his own stamp on a spot, with little interference from an agency.

He says "General's Party" for EB Beer through Leo Burnett Warsaw, which depicts Polish generals getting silly and kinky to the Sid Vicious' version of "My Way," is an example of a shooting scenario where, "I wasn't really checked at all."

"I do like the process though," says Snyder. "I like working with agencies and creative people. I like solving problems for them."

Snyder also recently shot five days in the South of France with Sean Connery for RAS and agency Dadda Lorenzini Vigorelli, Milan.

Webfiles:
Believe> http://www.believemedia.com