Robert Allan Black

Last updated
Robert Allan Black
Occupation(s)Writer, director
Years active1970–present

Robert Allan Black is an American writer and director, who began his career as an advertising copywriter. His film writing and directing work includes the feature documentary, Loving Henri (2017), about freed Nazi slave turned philanthropist, Henri Landwirth (1927-2018), which was shot over the span of 14 years. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Black lived on various Army bases across America and in Japan. Upon graduating from San Jose State University, Black wrote two scripts: Remember The Thrill, loosely based on his years playing college football; and Austin City Limits, a love affair set in Washington, DC and a Texas Honky-Tonk.

Career

In 1970, Black got a job as a copywriter at Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising (FCB) in San Francisco, California. He worked as a copywriter at several advertising agencies throughout the 1970s, including Honig-Cooper & Harrington, Ketchum Advertising, and Bozell & Jacobs, where he created the first Atari campaign, "Doreen, Come On Home". [3] [ failed verification ] From 1976 through 1979, Black did freelance work under the moniker, Robert Allan Black Productions, for the founder of Atari, Nolan Bushnell. Black created the entertainment portion and named the endeavor, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater. [4] [5] [6]

During the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, Black developed his serial commercial campaigns, which he built as films, with character development, character arcs, turning points, and cliffhangers. [7]

Black's serial advertising campaigns were reviewed in The New York Times which published an article stating, "probably never before has an advertiser used such elaborate plots, spread over so many commercials." [8]

In November 1988, after being pursued by several film companies to direct, [9] he left FCB and joined Travisano, DiGiacomo, Black films. Backstage Shoot magazine, the predecessor to the publication Shoot Magazine, printed a front-page article about his departure from advertising, stating, "The advertising industry has lost a true visionary, an inspired creative, who launched a new genre of broadcast advertising - the serialized commercial for Pacific Bell." [10] Black was on retainer with FCB as Creative Director on Holland America Cruise Line and Westours through 1989. [11]

Black won the Mercury Award given to the best Marketed Travel Campaign in the World for his work on Holland American Cruise Line/Westours. [12] His work has won Clios, Cannes Lions, Mobius Gold, Andy's, Addys, and several Best of Show. [13] He was nominated by the Directors Guild of America for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials". [14] [15]

In 1999, Black directed an episode of the ABC television drama, Once and Again, starring Sela Ward and Billy Campbell.[ citation needed ]

In 1992, Black wrote and directed, Let Them Run Free (1992), for the Starbright Children's Foundation [ citation needed ] to benefit terminally ill children. The film was commissioned by Steven Spielberg and executive produced by Kathleen Kennedy. Black donated his creative work and filmmaking to the film, along with funding the finishing of the film.

In 2000, [16] Black began shooting a documentary film called Borrowing Time, [17] [ failed verification ] which he partially funded. [18] Later this story evolved into a feature documentary titled, Loving Henri (2017). It was filmed over a 14-year period in locations around the world and follows the journey of freed Nazi slave turned philanthropist, Henri Landwirth (1927-2018), as he attempts to free himself of demons that remain. Black is the managing partner of Loving Henri, LLC.

Related Research Articles

Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or group to take a particular action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Barclay</span> American television director and producer

Paris K. C. Barclay is an American television director, producer, and writer. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner and is among the busiest single-camera television directors, having directed nearly 200 episodes of television to date, for series such as NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, CSI, Lost, The Shield, House, Sons of Anarchy, In Treatment, Glee, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Watcher, and American Horror Story: NYC. He also serves as an executive producer on many of the shows he directs, and occasionally as a writer or co-creator as well. From 2013 to 2017, Barclay served two terms as the President of the Directors Guild of America.

Shirley Polykoff was a pioneering woman in American advertising, rising from an entry-level copywriter to a senior executive. Her "Does She... Or Doesn't She?" branding slogan accompanied by "Hair Color So Natural Only Her Hairdresser Knows For Sure" tagline developed in 1956 for Clairol dramatically increased sales, changed cultural norms, and earned her a place in the Advertising Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crispin Porter + Bogusky</span> Advertising agency

Crispin Porter + Bogusky, a member of publicly traded MDC Partners, is an American advertising agency that as of 2005 employed around 700 people. It was founded in 1988 by Sam Crispin. Crispin then became partners with Chuck Porter and Alex Bogusky. As of 2016, Porter is the only member still working for CP+B.

Vinny Warren is an Irish-born American advertising creative director, most notable for his iconic "Whassup?" campaign for Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch). Warren was inducted into the Clio Awards Hall of Fame in 2006. He is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Dougal Stewart Wilson is an English director of commercials and music videos. His work includes directing several John Lewis Christmas adverts and the Grammy-nominated music video for "Life in Technicolor II" (2009) by Coldplay. He is set to make his feature film debut with Paddington in Peru (2024), the third instalment in the Paddington franchise.

Lee Garfinkel is an American businessperson in the field of advertising. He was most recently the CEO of FCB Garfinkel, the New York office of FCB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Buckley</span> American filmmaker (born 1963)

Bryan Buckley is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and two-time Academy Award nominated director. His successful career has led to him being dubbed the "King of the Super Bowl".

Frank Budgen was a British commercial director and co-founder of Gorgeous Enterprises, a London-based film production company. He was voted as the Directors Guild of America commercial director of the year in 2007. His notable works include Tag and Mountain.

Alan "Mo" Morris was an Australian advertising creative executive, a copywriter who enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 80s. Together with his long-time business partner Allan Johnston, he formed the Australian advertising agency Mojo which enjoyed much local and some international success in the 1980s and whose name survived till 2016 as Publicis Mojo, the Australian subsidiary of the French multinational advertising and communications company holding Publicis Groupe.

The Association of Independent Commercial Producers, or AICP, is an American not for profit organization that represents the interests of United States companies that specialize in commercial production. Its members work in various media—film, video, digital—for advertisers and agencies. Founded in 1972, the association has national offices in New York City and Los Angeles as well as regional chapters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Generation (advertisement)</span> Television advertisement introducing Nike shoe

"Second Generation" is a 2006 television advertisement introducing Nike's Air Jordan XXI brand of basketball shoes. The ad depicts signature moves from Michael Jordan's NBA career, recreated in the present day by twelve young basketball players around the world. Included are moments from the 1989, 1991, 1992, and 1998 NBA playoffs and the iconic 1988 slam dunk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Pytka</span> American film director

Joe Pytka is an American film, television, commercial and music video director born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He holds the record for the most nominations for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Commercials.

Juan Cabral is an Argentine writer and director, whose work includes short and feature films, music videos and commercials.

Bob Brooks was an American film director, photographer, and advertising creative. He created numerous advertising campaigns, directed several thousand TV commercials in the UK, US, and Europe, and directed two feature films. Brooks was a founding partner of BFCS, an influential British film production company, and one of the founders of Design and Art Direction (D&AD). He was acclaimed within his lifetime, with numerous international awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Droga</span> Australian businessman

David Droga is an Australian advertising executive, creative entrepreneur and the founder of Droga5, an advertising agency headquartered in New York City with offices in London, Tokyo, São Paulo and Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noam Murro</span> Israeli film director

Noam Murro is an Israeli film director and film producer. He is best known for directing the films Smart People, 300: Rise of an Empire, and the BBC miniseries Watership Down.

David Gray is an American filmmaker, commercial director, and former creative director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and BBDO. He has worked with numerous brands including Nike, Visa, American Express, Microsoft, FedEX, Time Warner, Showtime, Volkswagen, and GEICO.

Free the Bid is a 501c3 non-profit initiative advocating on behalf of women directors for equal opportunities to bid on commercial jobs in the global advertising industry. Free the Bid's pledge calls for ad agencies and brands to include at least one woman director every time they triple-bid a commercial production. The program also urges production companies to add more women to their rosters. Pledged agencies, brands and production companies further pledge to free the bid by seeking intersectional, diverse perspectives whenever possible.

Miles Jay is a Canadian filmmaker whose work includes Super Bowl commercials and music videos. He won an Emmy Award in 2018 for his work on a Squarespace advertisement featuring actor John Malkovich and was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on Leon Bridges' "River" music video. He was nominated for Best Commercial Director at the Directors Guild of America Awards in 2016 and 2018.

References

  1. ↑ Boedeker, Hal (October 20, 2016). "'Loving Henri' arrives after 14 years". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  2. ↑ "Nashville Jewish Film Festival: Loving Henri". The Belcourt: Nashville's Nonprofit Film Center. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "Atari's Very First Commercial". TechEBlog. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  4. ↑ Copyright Law Decisions: Robert Allan Black v. Pizza Time Theatres, Inc., et al. Commerce Clearing House. 1985. p. 17971. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  5. ↑ "Chuck E Cheese Characters". Chuckecheesehistory.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  6. ↑ "Jasper T. Jowls". ShowbizPizza.com. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  7. ↑ Alsop, Michael (November 13, 1986). "Tune In Next Month To Learn How These Commercials End". Wall Street Journal: 31.
  8. ↑ Stevenson, Richard W. (February 22, 1988). "Advertising; Pacific Bell's Mini-Series Campaigns". The New York Times: Section D, 9. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  9. ↑ "Onward and Upward…FCB star joins Travisano as Director". Adweek (HP12): 17. November 7, 1988.
  10. ↑ Miller, Richard (November 4, 1988). "Robert Black Exits FCB/S.F. To Join Travisano Digiacomo". BackStage/Shoot.
  11. ↑ Desalvo, Kathy (November 10, 2000). "Dir. Robert Black Goes Into Orbit". SHOOTonline. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Flashback: 5 Years / 10 Years". SHOOTonline. July 21, 2000. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "Robert Black - Black Gold, Texas Tea". Directors - A Supplement to SHOOT. Spring Edition: 26. 1998.
  14. ↑ "DGA Announces 1997 Nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials". Directors Guild of America. February 5, 1998. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  15. ↑ Madigan, Nick (February 5, 1998). "DGA names commercial noms: Winners to be named at 50th awards dinner March 7". Variety. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  16. ↑ "Street Talk". SHOOTonline. April 5, 2002. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  17. ↑ "Borrowing time". WorldCat. OCLC   86118228.
  18. ↑ Robert, Goldrich (May 3, 2002). "Coppos Films Signs Dir. Robert Black". SHOOT Magazine. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.