It’s difficult to ignore MJZ director Tom Kuntz. Tune in to Oprah and the star of his Old Spice commercial is giving an interview. Stay for the commercial break, and his three-year-old Axe spot “Chocolate Man” is in rotation. Open an ad trade and he’s posing with his 2009 Directors Guild of America award for commercial directing flanked by two Glee cast members.

This year the 37-year-old, who is making his fourth consecutive appearance as a top director, continued to mine comedy gold with familiar creative partners. Most notably with Wieden+Kennedy, Portland’s Craig Allen and Eric Kallman, the creatives behind a series of unsettlingly silly Skittles spots in 2007.

The trio reunited on Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”, which garnered upwards of 6.4 million hits on YouTube and turned its hunky shirtless star, former NFLer Isaiah Mustafa, into an in-demand actor and daytime talk show darling.

The Old Spice hit capped a year of cleverly-cast comedy for Kuntz, highlights of which included a rock opera for the California Milk Processor Board (“Battle for Milkquarius”), Saturday morning slapstick for Fruit by the Foot (“Replacement”) and Super Bowl silliness for Monster.com (“Fiddling Beaver”).
After three DGA nominations for commercial directing, Kuntz finally won the award on the back of a reel that plays like a best of 2009 commercial comedy retrospective: Old Spice “Different Scents for Different Gents”, Cadbury “Eyebrow Dance” and Careerbuilder “Tips”.

“One of the strengths of that particular body of work is that it does present some sort of a coherent voice,” he told Boards following the win in February. “Those [spots] are probably my proudest moments of last year.”

You’re given a blank check and told, “This is your budget, go nuts”. Describe the commercial you’d make.
Why would I make a commercial with that money?

How would you describe your profession to a kindergarten class full of four- and five-year-olds?
I make those commercials your parents fast-forward through.

Name a creative person, outside of directing, whose career you admire?
[Novelist] Richard Brautigan. The very best. But dead now.

What’s your favorite mobile app?
Artemis Director’s Viewfinder.

What was the most technically challenging job you shot in the past year?
Old Spice, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”. One shot with lots of stuff to get right and a wall of dialogue. And a horse.

What’s your most memorable experience directing an animal?
We once had an enraged boar squealing loudly from the end of a hallway. It honestly sounded as much like Satan as anything I have ever heard. We were packed in a room full of 75 extras and everyone heard the freaky sounds and went white with fear. We thought about it for a moment and then opted to scrap the boar shot.

Directing tip you’d give yourself if you could go back to your first job?
Be less drunk. Q

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