NEWS: BFCS signs director from US to broaden appeal to agencies

BFCS, the long-established commercials production company, has further

updated its roster of directors by signing Russell Mulcahy, the director

behind feature films such as Highlander I and Highlander II and the

Shadow.

The Australian-born Mulcahy is moving back into commercials after a six-

year break, during which time he worked on a number of feature films in

the US.

He recently finished producing Silent Trigger, a film starring Dolph

Lundgren, which will be released in Britain this autumn.

Mulcahy has made commercials for clients such as Ford, Heineken and

Smirnoff, and won a Clio for a BP spot featuring planes, helicopters,

trains and cars converging on a petrol station in the desert.

His appointment follows the hiring of Peter Harrison as BFCS’s new

managing director in December after the sudden departure of the former

managing director, Ann Pugsley (Campaign, 1 December 1995).

Harrison has been trying to revitalise BFCS’s appeal to agencies. Last

week, he signed two new directors, Cathrine Ellis and Keith Rogerson,

and recruited Tim Berriman from the facilities giant, Molinaire Films,

as a senior producer (Campaign, 16 February).

Harrison commented: ‘Russell wanted to re-establish his roots in the UK

after such a long time working exclusively in the US, and we are very

lucky to have him here. He misses the big event ads he was doing in the

80s and wants to get stuck in again.’

BFCS is owned by Michael Seresin, who recently directed campaigns for De

Beers, Renault and Heineken, and Derek Coutts, who shot most of the

recent Gold Blend, Oxo and Woolwich ads.

This article was first published on Campaign