Expansion Follows Company Philosophy Of Bringing Together The Talents Of Diverse Group Of Directors & Artists

After an unstoppable first year with wall-to-wall assignments as McNamara Film Company, the production company is re-branding itself as Collective, part of its ongoing commitment to expand and bring together a diverse group of directors and artists. Collective has just signed director Jeremy Warshaw to its roster, and is currently in negotiations with several other artists including directors, photographers, and designers.

“We are a company that’s thinking about the future, and have formed ourselves around the idea of expansion and joining with directors who share our same philosophy,” says Michael Arias Garza, Managing Partner/Executive Producer of Collective. “We can bring the goals of the client, and vision of the creative teams into an open collaborative atmosphere – and together, we can produce the best commercial art no matter the medium.”

“With a Collective approach, we can capitalize on the talents of our directors and artists,” adds David McNamara, Partner and Director/Photographer of Collective, who won a Gold ADDY Award for his Marathon Oil campaign last year. “Our clients will have a unique option to combine the skills of one or several artists, drawing upon their combined strengths toward a singular cohesive campaign.”

Collective is built on an innovative production model, offering solutions that span across multiple platforms – from broadcast to print to the web – to maintain conceptual continuity. The award-winning Marathon Oil TV and print campaign for Wyse Advertising is a recent example.

“Collective delivered exactly what every agency hopes for and so rarely gets: someone who stays true to your concept, but makes it better than you ever dreamed it could be,” says Sharon Hinman, Senior VP & Creative Director at Wyse Advertising. “We couldn’t have asked for a better partner in the Marathon Oil project – and they truly were partners. David and his team brought an unusually high level of creativity and collaborative thinking to the project, quickly winning the trust and confidence of the ‘real people’ who were our cast. Their relentless work ethic and production expertise was truly astounding.”

“Working with Michael and David was one of the most collaborative shoot experiences I’ve had,” adds Eric Tao, Producer at McCann-Erickson NY. “What makes them special as a production entity is the personal attention and care they give to the production. They go the extra mile on every single little detail. Their great taste reflects in everything they do from their crew choices to pre-pros and presentations. David is an amazing shooter, and elicits wonderful performances from actors and non-actors alike. He was also able to shoot the still campaign for my project concurrently with the TV, which helped streamline things immensely and provided the same aesthetic point-of-view.”

Through their years of experience working all over the globe, the founding members of Collective have established strategic alliances with top production service companies in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Eastern Europe, Ireland and UK, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. In the US, it also provides full-service production support to foreign companies.

Collective’s newest addition is director Jeremy Warshaw, known for his documentary skills, real person stories and his abilities to elicit natural performances both in short and long form. His diverse background includes positions on the agency side at Saatchi & Saatchi and TBWA in both the UK and the US. In 1992, he founded The Observatory in New York, a company specializing in producing highly creative films, which reveal how people behave in their natural habitats from a Wall Street trading room to a supermarket to their homes. As a commercial director, Warshaw began at Maysles Films where he helmed real people campaigns for American Express, KC Masterpiece, Procter & Gamble, and Tylenol.

Warshaw also established Give A Damn Films to produce broadcast spots and long-form films for charities and worthy causes. Through the Advertising Education Foundation he has lectured at Williams College, University of Texas, and Lehigh University. He also authored a chapter in the book, “AIDS Prevention Through Education, A World View,” published by Oxford University Press, describing the advertising and marketing strategies he developed for the New York City campaign for AIDS education.

Warshaw has won numerous directing awards including an Emmy and an International Monitor Award for Best Director for Corporate Communications.

“With his accomplishments as a documentarian and filmmaker, Jeremy is exactly the kind of diversity we need for Collective,” says Garza. “Along with a full broadcast campaign, we can produce long form for the web in tandem.”

“Having come from an agency background, I understand how a fluid collaborative process with a director can yield a stronger and better concept,” concludes Warshaw. “Michael [Garza] and David [McNamara] are not only technologically savvy, but they are able to harness this process and push the creative further. I like the open cooperative atmosphere that is part of Collective’s DNA. If I need help, I can go to other artists just like they can ask me for input when they need it. It’s the way I’ve always liked to work and it’s so relevant for what is being demanded by agencies now.”

Jeremy Warshaw Commercial Reel
Collective.wiredrive.com/l/p/?presentation=91660167a67d34611520e2459ffb329c

David McNamara Commercial Reel
Collective.wiredrive.com/l/p/?presentation=427f4c52f8e998b6700ca23a9dc8bc05

www.Collectiveny.com