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Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 13 - Index

Back Alley Films
Bringing Top East/West Coast Directors To The Midwest
Compiled by Amy Wilschke
Teri Rogers, owner of T2 (TakeTwo) in Kansas City, is opening
Back Alley Films, a new Kansas City-based commercial/new
media production company. Rogers has teamed up with
Santa Monica-based executive
producer John Ehrenfeld, who
will lead the company along
with Kansas City-based head of
production Tyler Smith, formerly
of Bernstein-Rein Advertising.
“[We] started [Back Alley
Films] really because we
were exploring how to start a
company that would focus on
content development [and]
new media [projects] because
we were interested in it,”
Rogers explains. “That’s how I
connected with John Ehrenfeld
and we started talking and exploring options and looking
at other models out there.
“In the end, we decided that the best way to do that was to
create a traditional commercial production model and go
after agencies with directors, but also have a new media
or content development division. We also wanted a longformat
division, which would be more of the documentaries,
IMAX films, features, shorts – anything that we wanted to
get involved in.”
Back Alley Films is bringing a roster of top-caliber directors
for commercial/new media production to the highly
underserved second-tier Midwestern markets. The company
opened its doors on June 9 with 13 directors on its roster,
offering expertise in visual effects, comedy, viral media,
lifestyle and storytelling genres.
“We didn’t start Back Alley to compete with other KC
production companies,” says Rogers. “We really wanted to
compete with the big companies from the coasts who are
not paying enough attention to this part of the country. And
along the way, we hope to bring more production work into
Kansas City.”
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Though the company has only been established for a few
weeks, it has already landed a job for Sprint announcing
the phone company’s new “Instinct” phone. The two
90-second spots came out of Two West (Kansas City/Los
Angeles) and required much live-action as well as effects
work, according to Rogers.
“We used one of our directors, Jason Ruha, for that one,”
Rogers says. “He was great, and [Two West] loved him, so
hopefully he’ll be working for that agency again. And we’re
moving on to other [Midwestern] cities and markets. I think
we’re scheduled to go to St. Louis next week.”
The company is headquartered in a 5,000-sq. ft. building at
1523 Grand, just south of the Sprint Center arena and in the
heart of KC’s downtown revitalization.
The roster includes West Coast directors Ryan Bosworth, Glen
Amonitti, Jeff McQueen, Scott Miller, Jesse Selwyn, Charles
Wittenmeier and Aubrey Singer. East Coast directors include
Simon Blake, Jason Moore and David Intrator, along with
heavy-hitters Jason Ruha, Michael Dali and Bruce Branit from
the Midwest. Though the coastal directors are still free to work
with production companies on the coasts, they are exclusive
to Back Alley Films for work in the 10-state Midwest region.
The group’s impressive work includes commercials for a
blue-chip client list including Nike, BMW, Fila, Jockey, Bud
Light, McDonald’s, Centrum, Dairy Queen, Purex, Kelloggs,
Microsoft and Toyota among many others.
“What will make us unique [in the
Midwest] is that production companies
don’t typically carry rosters of directors,”
explains Rogers. “They may have a
couple of in-house directors or they may
do loan-outs, but typically they don’t
establish and sign directors. Though we
know that’s going to be an evolving
thing – we’ll get new directors and we’ll
lose some, and that’ll be the way it’ll go
– I think that’s the uniqueness of what
we’re trying to do. [We’re] bring[ing]
the big production company concept
to the Midwest.”
//www.backalleyfilms.com
//www.t2.tv