Creativity's Production Company of the Year: MJZ

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- If Creativity's Agency of the Year represents a new-model company coming into its own, the year's top production company proves the adage, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. That philosophy has served 20-year-old MJZ well over the last decade, during which the shop arguably has been the most-dominant player in commercial production. In recent years, as other companies have attempted to diversify their offerings beyond spots to accommodate the shifting advertising scene -- which has seen digital innovation and integrated campaigns become more norm than novelty -- company President and co-founder David Zander played to classic strengths. Director Tom Kuntz was the 2009 MVP. He built on Fallon London's -- and his own -- candy legacy with some carefully trained eyebrows for Cadbury; he extended Goodby's White Gold franchise into the 20-minute "Battle for Milkquarious" rock opera; and turned out even more spectacular moments partnering with Wieden & Kennedy. The inner turmoil of a disgruntled office worker couldn't be conveyed any more accurately, or hilariously, than in the Kuntz-directed "Tips" for CareerBuilder. The director also added more ammo to Coke's happiness arsenal in the flirtatious "Library" and was instrumental in taking the "Old" out of "Old Spice" with spots such as "Scents for Gents." It also didn't hurt that he snagged the title of the year's most-globally-awarded director in the annual Creativity Awards Report, helping to steer MJZ to a repeat as most-awarded production company. Fellow director Rupert Sanders, 2008's most decorated director, added even more heft to MJZ's reel. He reteamed with T.A.G., San Francisco, for Halo ODST's "The Life," the follow-up to the much honored "Believe." He was also on board for TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York's "Anthem" spot for Absolut. And in perhaps the year's most artsy feat of production, he carefully choreographed Droga5's debut spot for Puma, in which virtual clothing was projected in camera onto the bodies of a pair of dancers. Other notable moments came from indie director Harmony Korine, who shot a series of dark vignettes for Liberty Mutual, and from Spike Jonze, who stepped out of "Where the Wild Things Are" promotional tsunami to shoot sumo-starring spots for Softbank and a cryptic short in which Kanye West confronts his inner demon. Dante Ariola set creatures loose too, for The Ladders, out of Fallon, Minneapolis, and for HP's "In the Air," out of Goodby, while Phil Joanou was behind 3-D spots for the U.S. Air Force. Mr. Zander built out his roster cautiously this year, adding only collective Pleix, which directed a Lexus package, and O Positive directors Jim Jenkins and David Shane to the shop's London roster, yielding a Shane-directed Doritos tale out of AMV BBDO, in which a man lives out his "Guitar Hero" dreams. The London hub also produced Fallon's latest Sony experiment, in which director and ad creative Juan Cabral helped turn an Icelandic town into a giant sound system. Meanwhile, Mr. Zander isn't blind to the changes around him. The industry's shifting attention is "definitely something that we've talked about as a company, but I think that it feels still like it's in its infancy. ... I think it's going to be commercials, plus other things. Focus is a critical thing in getting anything accomplished, and right now I still believe what we have -- the modified version of the traditional production company -- is still the most viable way to spend our energy." Runners up Philosophically speaking, our production company of the year could have been B-Reel. The Swedish shop was already a darling of the digital spotlight thanks to its multiplatform productions, such as Goodby's much decorated Hotel 626. It remained on top of that game in '09 with the Doritos' horror sequel, "Asylum 626," as well as host of other standout interactive efforts such as Nokia's Talk Talk website out of Chi & Partners, and Axe's 100 Girls site, via BBH, New York. Meanwhile, in a production backflip, the shop built out traditionally, partnering with Swedish shop St. Paul to launch B-Reel Films, and beefing up its New York team with director Anders Hallberg and EP Kathrin Lausch -- a setup that, perhaps, gives a glimpse of the "standard" of the future.

Creativity's Production Company of the Year: MJZ

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