Less is more, and perhaps no director knows that better than the Czech Republic's Ivan Zacharias. An A-list director for most of this decade, Zacharias has gradually curtailed his output to the extent that he now only works on two to three spots a year. While designed to allow him to devote more time to his family and his feature film aspirations, the move hasn't hurt his commercial directing career at all. In fact, when paired with his instinct for sniffing out only the best work, Zacharias' increasing reclusiveness is giving him the same aura of exclusivity enjoyed by the Budgens and Jonzes of the world. And judging by how many other modern-day directors are citing him as someone to aspire to (as both Antoine Bardou-Jacquet and Frederic Planchon do elsewhere in this very issue), it wouldn't be at all surprising to see Zacharias' legacy ascend to similar heights with time. Since the last 12 months have yielded sterling spots for Rexona ("Stunt City") and Honda (the much vaunted "Impossible Dream"), not to mention brand new work for Adidas' +10 campaign, we thought we'd give Zacharias a ring and ask him the question every agency wants the answer to: what do they have to do to get him? Zacharias' admonishing answer: make better work.

Is there anything you bid on this year that you really wanted to get but didn't?
No. Last year I had two other scripts I was quite interested in. One was completely cancelled by the client, and the other one was given to someone else because they told me my ideas were too radical. But they weren't, basically - they probably just wanted to do it exactly as they wrote it. But I don't bid for many jobs. There are not that many good scripts around, to be honest. For the last few years, it hasn't been great.

Do you feel pressure from your production companies for being so selective?
Not at all. We've worked together for such a long time that Daniel [Bergmann] and Robert [Herman] know that I won't change, and if anything, that I'll work less. They've gotten used to it.

Do you really think most creative is that bad?
Yeah. I think it's not great and it's getting worse, I don't know why. Maybe the longer I'm in this business, the less I like, but at the same time I feel like there were more interesting scripts five to six years ago. It's been changing and I don't know why.

What was the last commercial you saw that you really loved?
The problem with me is that I don't watch commercials much. For example, I have no idea what's going on in the States at all. In Europe, I remember I liked Nick Gordon's PlayStation ["Pace of Life"], Frank Budgen's Stella ["Bench"] and Ne-O's Volkswagen ad, the "Singin' In The Rain" one, and probably a few more, but nothing where I would say 'Wow, this is amazing.'

What attracted you to "Impossible Dream"?
First of all, I like the guys and the agency who wrote it, they're really nice. I worked with them on a previous Honda spot and it was all great. Also, I liked the song. And I liked the general idea, I just thought it needed a bit of work, but as a concept I liked it because I'd never done it that way before. So it was an interesting experience, and to see some of those Formula One cars was quite exciting.

How do you feel about the fact that people are calling it a frontrunner at Cannes?,br>You know, I don't care at all. We've won in Cannes a few times. Not the main one, but a few Golds. It's more for the agency, not for me. It's always nice to win, but it doesn't have any effect on getting better scripts. It's probably more important for new directors to get their stuff seen more, but I don't care and I probably won't go anyway.

What would your crew members say about working with you?
I don't scream and I don't shout, so they would probably say I'm quiet. They would probably say 'Let's try it one more time', because that's what I like to say, and also that I can't draw. My drawings are so shit that a lot of people can't tell if it's a man or a car or what.

Do you have any idea what kind of commercial you'd like to do next?
I'd like to do a criminal story, for example - something with proper storytelling, ideally in long-format. I still hope commercials will change a bit and we'll be able to do short films instead of 60 seconds. I don't do 30-second commercials anymore - I can't remember the last one I did. Something like those BMW Films would be great, but with a better story maybe. I really enjoyed doing those Stella commercials because they're little stories and you can choose actors as if you would choose them for a feature.

Antoine Bardou-Jacquet told us his professional ambition is "to be better than Ivan Zacharias".
That's funny. We never met but I was spying on how the other Honda shoot ["Choir"] was going because it was the same agency and same people, and it was really funny to be competing with our two scripts. But he must be a nice guy!

Is it strange to think that other directors consider your work a benchmark to aspire to?
I don't think that way at all. I never think someone could feel that way about me, because I don't think some of the stuff we do is that great. But I also don't think Antoine should say that because he did "Cog", which is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. So he should shut up!

VITALS
Production affiliations:
Repped for commercials by Stink (Europe) and Smuggler (United States).
Education:
Zacharias studied at Prague's prestigious Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts, where he met longtime friend and DP Jan Velicky and got his first taste of the advertising world.

Stink>http://www.stink.tv
Smuggler>http://www.smugglersite.com