LOS ANGELES— British commercials director
Stuart Douglas, whose work for such brands as Coca-Cola, Nike, Sony, Carlsberg
and Guinness has won worldwide acclaim, has signed with Original for exclusive representation
in the United States. It marks the first time in more than a decade that
Douglas has focused on the American market.

Douglas has won numerous international advertising awards
for a style of directing that uses such tools as cinematic lighting, impressionistic
portraiture and meticulous art direction to tell intimate, emotionally-driven
stories. His work includes a global campaign for Jeep, via J. Walter Thompson,
Milan, promoting the brand’s full line of SUVs and marking its 70th
anniversary. Titled Never Adapt, the
campaign features sweeping, cinematic portraits of people engaged in
extraordinary activities to support “Jeep’s core values of freedom, adventure,
authenticity, passion and uniqueness.”

More recently, Douglas spent several weeks in Bangkok,
Thailand, where he wrote and directed a 9-part web series for Sony Ericsson launching
its Xperia X1 phone.  Conceived by international
digital agency Dare, the series is styled as a Hollywood thriller and tells the
story of a man who uses his phone to reconstruct his life after being kidnapped
and suffering from amnesia. His latest project is a holiday campaign for
upscale British retailer Debenhams.

“Stuart is a gifted artist with an outstanding body of
work,” says Original executive producer Joe Piccirillo.
“He is a unique and compelling storyteller and we are excited to have this
opportunity to reintroduce him to the U.S. market.”

Douglas’s other notable efforts include a series of ads for
the Bank of Ireland whose artfully photographed tales serve as metaphors for
the bank’s financial stewardship. The latest centers on a lighthouse keeper who
“keeps the light shining through rough seas.” Douglas also directed a fashion-oriented
campaign for British retailer Debenhams, set to Foxes’ song Youth, and a promo for the BBC that sets
images of working class people against lines from Jack Kerouac about his
passion for people who are “mad to live.”

“A great piece of Kerouac prose allowed me to shoot pictures
of real people in real environments while allowing the back stories to simply
suggest themselves,” recalls Douglas. “It seems to say a lot without ever
shouting about it. I quite like that.”

Douglas began his career as a still photographer, initially
achieving success while working in tandem with his brother Andrew as The
Douglas Brothers. They later segued into live action, winning awards for their
work for Adidas, Glenfiddich and other advertisers. They went onto replicate
that success in the United States, working through Los Angeles production
company Ritts/Hayden. The brothers eventually split up and at that point Stuart
returned to England where he founded Nice Shirt Films with long-time
collaborators Jon Hollis, and Richard Martin.

With regard to Original, Douglas says that he chose the
company as his new American home because he admired its work and felt a kinship
toward its principals. “They don’t have anyone on their roster who does what I
do, so I thought I could bring something new,” he observes. “I was also quite
impressed with their energy and enthusiasm and with the homework they had done
on me. It was apparent that they had given a lot of thought to where I fit in
the U.S. market.”

About Original

Original is led
by executive producers Bruce Mellon, Joe Piccirillo and Marc Lasko.  For more information, call (310) 445-9000, or
visit www.originalfilm.com.