BBDO, Germany HTV Steffen Gentis and FHV/BBDO HTV Geertje Hoek

The most important job of an agency producer, says BBDO, Germany head of TV Steffen Gentis, is to find the right director for the script.

Despite the rapid changes that the ad industry's seen over the past two years, at its heart, it is still a people business. With this in mind, Gentis founded the BBDO Directors Lounge, an initiative that aims to connect creatives with directors face-to-face. Held in Germany, past Director's Lounges have seen up to 800 participants across Europe meet to connect with directors with the goal of building relationships that will advance a more fruitful exchange of ideas.

In part two of Boards' interview with Gentis and FHV/BBDO, Amsterdam head of TV Geertje Hoek, the duo discuss the challenges facing new directors. The economic downturn saw an influx of experienced directors bidding on scripts that in the past they normally wouldn't have. Gentis and Hoek discuss how this may impact a young director's ability to break into the industry.

"On one hand, it's a problem because if you have a good script you can basically pick directors who in the past might have been too busy," says Hoek. "On the other hand, I think for the really good [young directors], it won't make a big difference."

"For me, if I get a really experienced director bidding on the same script as a young director he might not be the right choice," adds Gentis. "Whereas that young director has the energy, he understands the target market and is going a completely different way. I think my advice for the young director is to make no compromises."

Gentis and Hoek brought the Director's Lounge to this year's Boards Summit. Delegates of the Summit were given the opportunity to view the portfolio of five directors - Dean Blumberg, Martin Schmid, Bram Schouw, Calum MacDiarmid and Aliaksei Tserakhau - whose work has yet to penetrate the US market, but has been making waves worldwide.

In part one of our Boards Summit interview series with the BBDO Director's Lounge, we got to know Dean Blumberg, Martin Schmid and Bram Schouw. In part two, we chat with directors Calum MacDiarmid and Aliaksei Tserakhau.

View Calum MacDiarmid's reel, presented by Greatguns, United Kingdom, here.

View Aliaksei Tserakhau's reel, presented by Cosmosfilm, Belarus and Canada, here.

View Dean Blumberg's reel, presented by Bouffant TV, South Africa, here.

View Bram Schow's reel, presented by Hazazah Films, Netherlands, here.

View Martin Schmid's reel, presented by Jo!Schmid, Germany, here.

www.bbdo.de