Chris Palmer, co-founder of London's Gorgeous Enterprises, is, and remains, a busy man. Buoyed by two recent high-profile gigs - the live action recreation of The Simpsons intro (see Monitor, pg. 10) and last year's "Distraction", a stark and dramatic PSA for the UK's department of transport - Palmer's on the go again. Boards caught up with the helmer as he was bouncing between London, New York and Los Angeles, prepping for a Nokia spot starring Gary Oldman.

What's your family background?
My father was in the army so I grew up around the world. I was often stuck in boarding schools. I was actually born in Germany and lived for a long while in

Bergen. I used to have this recurring nightmare that I was walking around the place in the dark wearing wicker boots. Years later, I was doing research and realized that Bergen was actually Bergen-belsen [the notorious Nazi death camp]. Then I went to a holocaust exhibition and they had a pair of wicker boots on display in a corner. [Ed.- Spooky]

How'd you get into this business?
When I was a kid I used to do handdrawn cartoon strips. I also did ridiculously ambitious stop-frame animation at art college. Then I did a foundation course. I'd traipse around agencies doing fake briefs and pitches. When I did the filmmaking part of the course, I saw people reacting emotionally to film - unlike drawing.

What were your initial advertising experiences like?
I started off as a copywriter [in 1985]. I didn't know I was going to get into directing. Right away at the agency I realized that directing was a lot more exciting. One area where you had total freedom was radio ads. The higher-ups didn't care what you were doing. You'd go to the studio with these name English performers and basically direct them. That was a good learning experience that helped me understand the basics.

What was your first real shoot like?
In the beginning, Mark Denton and I directed together for six months. The first spot was a Hugo Boss ad. The story centered around a major European football match. It was all shot in a little studio for no money. Cheap salmon carpet to look like the track around the pitch. These were the pre-technology days.

What do you do when not prepping or directing?
It's sad really. I'm churning out screenplays, playing football or watching football - Tottenham is my team. My other interest is motorbikes. There's no family, I'm single and not at all bitter. I'm spurned by the opposite sex. All the writing doesn't help. I never go out, I don't drink, I don't do drugs, there's no crazy social life. Boring is the word you're looking for.

Do you have a preferred style to work in?
People get known for doing one style really well. In the market, being a jack of all trades director doesn't help. At the same time, I like the strength of weakness - trying different things. I try to adapt to the subject matter. I'd say that comedy is the hardest. If you do crap drama, people may not notice. If you're trying to do funny and it isn't, you're dead.

How do you choose what spots to shoot?
If you can't see the script, you don't do it. If I see it and know I can do a good job, I throw my hat in the ring. I can't do a spot unless I believe it. There is nothing that I've done recently that I'm ashamed of. They turn out one way or another. It's never done for the money. I've always seen something in it - albeit sometimes foolishly.

What's hardest about directing?
Directing is easy. It's all the other stuff that's hard. The people who have been in it longest have worked this out. I've been in ad relationships from both sides. I know the process. If I can, I avoid confrontation. I've had it when a client will want to stray from the treatment and you get forced into a place you don't want to go. Half the time you are protecting an idea. The biggest problem in the industry is account handlers not telling the client what's going on and leaving it up to you. People pay me an awful lot of money for my opinion so I might as well give it. Usually in the end they approve. It's getting better: now you do more complete treatments and the ideas are clearer.

You've shot all around the world. Any thoughts?
The truth is that you get better quality crews in LA, NY and London. Outside those locations, the two areas that become a struggle are hair and make-up, and wardrobe. If you can't take your key crew, quality drops off a bit. For some reason sign painting is an issue. I mean, if someone paints you a sign, you want to be able to use it.

Gorgeous>http://www.gorgeous.co.uk