VENVILLE LEAVES THERAPY FOR SPANK

Feature and commercials director Malcolm Venville has signed to Spank for commercials work in the UK, leaving Therapy Films - the company he set up with the late Daniel Todd 15 years ago.

Venville rejoins Spank's founding partner and now director Karen Cunningham - a relationship that goes back to when she produced his first commercial. Bash Robertson, the other founding partner of Spank's embryo company Pink, is also reunited with the pair this week, joining Spank as managing partner. "I am delighted to be working with both Karen and Malcolm again. There is a definite feeling of serendipity," said Robertson.

shots.net caught up with the multi-talented Venville, who will resume shooting commercials in London later this month - as soon as he wraps up his latest feature film in the States.


Why Spank?
I left Therapy simply because it was time for a change. Karen Cunningham produced my first commercial and the trust was there and so it was an easy decision to join up with her. Also I was inspired that Karen had started directing. I like Karen's enthusiasm and passion, simple as that.

Tell us about the feature you're filming…
I'm currently shooting an independent movie here in NYC called Henry's Crime. Keanu Reeves is leading and producing. It's a romance, a heist and a production of the Cherry Orchard, woven together to make, hopefully, a tale worth telling. James Caan and Vera Farmiga also star. Three very different actors. James Caan has a brilliant sense of comedy. Henry's Crime was offered to me after Keanu and his associates saw 44 Inch Chest. (released in UK on January 22). Then we collaborated on the script in London and LA until we felt ready to make offers. We finish end of January and I'm keen to get back into commercials because I like the process of shooting and image making in London. This is what informs the film work.

Favourite commercials?
It's all about the idea. Executing an idea that is good on paper and watching it getting better visually is what fascinates me. Rarely does an average idea turn into a great commercial.

What's next for you?
2010 is about editing Henry's Crime and the soundtrack. Music is the real challenge for me. Then getting some new English work on the reel. After all these years, working in London is as important as ever because commercials here in the UK are still rooted in the idea.

What else have you been up to lately?
I've finished work on another book project called The Women of Casa X. It's another Mexican project. Mexico fascinates me, it's replete with strange stories of madness and the surreal that we in the West have become too rationalized to comprehend.

What would be your perfect project?
My ideal project would be Deaf Road, a true story based on a close family friend's journey to Tangiers in 1946. It's a sign language movie about four profoundly deaf young men who sought adventure in Morocco. It's a difficult project to raise finance for but it remains my goal and has been for ten years. I'm a hearing child of profoundly deaf parents. It's close to my heart and it's 100 per cent visual. It's about people who understand the world through their eyes.

What's been inspiring you of late?
The usual, my bed, coffee, breakfast and my wife Daisy who has just given birth to our first child.