They don’t tell jokes on stage. They don’t pull off daring crimes. But when it comes to commercial production, Nice Shoes Colorist Chris Ryan and Big Sky Editor Chris Franklin are as good as any famous duo you can name. Over the past 15 years the pair has collaborated on hundreds of spots across multiple genres.
“I have unlimited trust in Chris,” noted Franklin. “With us, there are no hidden agendas or secret motives. We’ve developed a shorthand that really streamlines the collaborative process. With both of us, it’s about what’s best for the project.”
Beginning with a piece for American Express via Nice Shoes’ previous incarnation Manhattan Transfer, the duo has teamed up on countless projects. While they boast an exhaustive list of high-profile clients, including Mastercard and Oreo (featuring the Manning brothers and two Donald Trumps), it is the pair’s continued work for the credit card giant that best exemplifies their professional synergy.
Harlem Children’s Zone, a recent American Express spot directed by Scott Hicks, with Bob Richardson acting as DP, is an outstanding showpiece of their massive portfolio. The beautiful 35mm and 16 mm narrative documents the rebirth of Central Harlem via the efforts of schools reformer Geoffrey Canada. The :60 is a masterpiece of cut and color, opening with a black-and-white ariel montage of Manhattan, fading to a collage of gutted buildings and gang-infested streets, and transitioning into shots of the colorful collages, squeeky-clean hallways, and neat uniforms that define Canada’s schools today.
“Every time someone sees that spot, the first thing they say is ‘That looks beautiful,’” stated Franklin. “But I’ve come to expect nothing less from Chris. He completely respects the footage and where it wants to go. While his deep understanding of film and its history is a priceless resource, it is his ability to casually but directly communicate his thoughts to a room and his fantastic eye that keeps production sessions and their direction sharp and clear.”
One of the duo’s most memorable efforts for American Express came with the recent, multi-award-nominated Curtain, a hilarious 35 mm beauty starring Conan O’Brien, directed by Bryan Buckley, and featuring Scott Henrickson as DP. The spot logs the funnyman’s odyssey through a chaotic Indian city to create the perfect stage curtain from scratch. He stalks the rollicking marketplace for the perfect yarn; labors over a spool in a dank workshop; drives the drapes cross town in a rickety rickshaw and, when that breaks down, on the back of an elephant; crushes grapes to produce dye; wrings his cloth clean while gossiping with Indian women; then carries the whole contraption down a mountain staircase overrun with monkeys and, to a raucous applause, sets up stage in a large plaza.
“It was fun working on such a big production,” stated Ryan. “You just don’t get epic spots like that anymore, with a big celebrity, exotic locations, shot on film. I miss big-event advertising. Luckily, Chris shares my love of this fading art, and no one can cut footage together like him. He’s in line with my love of the ‘photographic’ looks – as opposed to extreme digital effects – that creates images that look as though we created them in someone’s darkroom.”