DKP’s Dan Krech and director/cinematographer Derek VanLint have been working together, on and off, for 15 years. Various spot projects and a collaboration with Derek VanLint and Associates in Miami in the 1980s cemented a working relationship that finally blossomed at the beginning of July. The bloom, ‘Ello Luv, is an integrated commercial production and animation/effects company designed to streamline and simplify the spot making process.

‘For an effects-oriented commercial, you need to rely on a lot of different disciplines,’ Krech begins. ‘Our whole purpose here is to have all those disciplines under one control. So the job is taken care of and the politics are removed from the whole idea. It becomes the concept, the job and the work. We can be cost competitive with anyone in the world, and we also have among the best in the world working on it.’

Already, the ‘Ello Luv roster is filling out. Besides VanLint, the new company is representing two helmers from Zero 2 Sixty in New York: director/cameraman Bob Mowen and director Alex Turner. Directors Mike Wellins, Kyran Kelly and Chad Nixon round out the roster.

Krech explains that each director brings a specialty with them, making the roster complementary, and eliminating the need to have his directors compete against one another.

‘We’ve taken all these disciplines and we’ve got people on the reel who are at the top of their fields. We’re really trying to get the whole gamut of visual effects and animation on our reel and we’re being very selective about it,’ Krech says.

The ‘project-oriented’ shop will also allow for multiple directors to work on particular projects where multiple skill-sets are required. ‘You don’t have to have just one [director]. Basically, you’re coming to us for the solution – the complete one-stop solution.’

Krech says ‘Ello Luv will continue to round out its roster with ‘unique talents.’ However, he cautions that the new shop will never have ‘a roster of 35-45 directors, because then you forget some and they go on the shelf, and then you have unhappy people. I think 10 is probably the maximum we want to go.’

The Luv concept appears to be catching on fast. Despite the slowdown, and the fact the company is less than a month old, it has already secured two jobs (Kraft Delissio and Coors Light) with ‘two or three pending, and two more to bid.’

‘This is a large step right now, to get people used to this way of working,’ Krech says. ‘Agencies have had to change over the last few years, too. There’s a lot of movement within the agencies and we’re reacting to that. Agencies are a lot leaner now, they move a lot quicker, and we have to do the same. We’re as lean and mean as they are,’ he announces.

For his part, VanLint sees ‘Ello Luv as a foray into higher-budget long-form feature directing. DKP, known as an effects and animation house, is currently developing itself as a full production company, with several features in the hopper. ‘I’m talking theatrical scripts in the $50 million area. It’s my best way of getting into that level of movie,’ says VanLint. ‘I’ve photographed movies at that level [Alien] but the movies I’ve directed [recently, Spreading Ground with Dennis Hopper] have had smaller budgets.’

Indeed, VanLint sees the commercial advantages of his new-style shop. ‘A.I. and Final Fantasy will have an effect. I’m not accusing the advertising people of being plagiarists, but it will certainly affect the look of a lot advertising. I think a lot of cars will become digital and things like that – putting cars in Van Gogh-type backgrounds.’

VanLint had mixed feelings about leaving Big Film, his commercial representative prior to the new venture. ‘I’m very fond of Angie [Colgoni] at Big Film. She tried very hard for me. But I see getting into theatrical, higher budget projects coming more through DKP.’

With ‘Ello Luv and the equally experienced Dan Krech at his side, VanLint is excited about the possibilities. ‘I enjoy going to work every morning.’