A rush of blood to the head

I booked a principal role in a Miller Lite commercial. Here is an article I found on the man Directing, Joachim Back. Seems like a rad dude.


A rush of blood to the head
Joachim Back's Comedy Exhilarates


Remember when Viagra commercials induced a 1950s hush-hush attitude about sex? Happy men smiling, bouncing along to work, women looking satisfied? Joachim Back's commercials obliterate those peppy spots from memory, hilariously repainting Viagra with an X-rated feel as gritty as your favorite four-letter word. Funny enough, not a sexual word is uttered in the spots, so that blush that heats your cheeks, they're all products of your own lascivious imagination. And Back would have it no other way.

"I try to help the pictures tell the story, rather than literally saying anything. The visuals are so important. Someone's reaction, a strange habit, the nice, big, funny visual. It's such a fine line," he comments.

Based in New York, the 33-year-old Back is used to many things, such as hearing 'Joachim' butchered in pronunciation and turning down projects that don't challenge him. "If I know a shoot is going to be a long walk in pain with a corporate knife in my back, I won't do it."

Back's career began in his native Denmark with on-set running gigs for television and film productions. His first demo reel was produced with a "by-any-means-necessary" mentality, quickly drawing notice. In 1997, he signed with European-based Metronome for commercial representation. In 2001, along with like-minded directors Kasper Wedendahl and Martin Werner, he formed Bacon, which drew steady accolades. The projects were exciting, but Back left the shop in early 2005, itching for a change of scenery. "I felt I needed to refocus a bit," he says. "Bacon turned into too many things, too many worries, and I wanted to get back to focusing on my work."

Today, Back is affiliated with Park Pictures, New York and Partners' Film Company in Toronto - with whom he won a Gold Lion at the 2005 Cannes Festival. From Toyota to McDonalds and Ikea, Back has put his indelible comic stamp on brands the world over, aiming to "help the product, but have a good time as well."

He gets turned on by ideas that grab him and won't let go. Brutal honesty excites him; weird people make him salivate and cautiousness turns him off, as do people afraid to experiment. "Creativity is universal, and I always find people who are willing to take risks, we always find each other."