The first new spot production company to start up in several years is putting the pieces together to officially open in a few weeks.
Partners Ron Lazzeretti and Ed Amaya recently left Spoke Films after three years to start their new 59 Films. It will work out of a temporary office in the NBC Building with business in hand and staff directors.
“We’re very excited about this new venture,” said executive producer Amaya. “We feel we have something pretty special to offer to folks” ? declining to say what that specialness will be until the other directors are officially signed.
He did say the new directors “probably won’t be local.”
The partners’ relationship began eight years ago when Amaya joined Lazzeretti’s then-production house, Two Olives.
Two Olives was one of the hottest spot houses of the late ?90s. Owner/directors, Lazzeretti and Rino Liberatore, had been prize-winning creative directors at the old Eisaman Johns & Law agency. (EJL was the first agency to sign the new Bulls player Michael Jordan for its Chevy Blazer client.)
Forming Two Olives was a natural evolution since the two CDs had also directed their own spots, winning armfuls of awards along the way. They also directed an indie feature, “The Opera Lover,” frequently seen on cable.
When the directors decided to part in 2000, Maggie Magee signed the Lazzeretti-Amaya team for her Spoke Films.
The name “59 Films” is an homage to Lazzeretti’s favorite director, Billy Wilder, who made “Some Like it Hot” in 1959. In that movie, they were reminded “that it took Marilyn Monroe 59 takes to say the line, ?where’s the whiskey?'” said Amaya.
Until phones are installed, 59 Films can be reached at 312/961-5575.
