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ASBURY PARK — Move over, Don Draper – Bob Giraldi was one of the original “Mad Men,” and he sees advertising as lucrative and as interesting now as it was in the 1960s.
Giraldi was a featured speaker Saturday at the Wonder Bar, as part of the Garden State Film Festival.
“I was a ‘Mad Man.’ I had a Peter Gunn haircut. Back then, working for smaller, hipper places was a step up.
Now, the hipper places are the agencies handling new media information,” Giraldi told a crowd of more than 30 people at his presentation, called “So You Wanna Direct?”
The multi-award winning director offered advice to future directors of music videos, films and commercials. Giraldi has experience directing in all those areas.
“I knew I could direct my own work and the work of others,” Giraldi said.
It took him a year of transition from working as creative director at the Young Rubicam Advertising Agency during the 1960s to become a full-time director.
He directed more than 4,000 commercials and won numerous Clios and other advertising awards. Giraldi was named one of “101 Stars Behind 100 Years of Advertising.”
Giraldi said a good example of a commercial utilizing new technology was “the E-trade kids commercials. That is a good integration of a concept and technology.”
The director stressed that to make a good commercial, short film or feature length film, “you need to make your point and keep it short.”
Diane Raver, the co-founder and executive director of the Garden State Film Festival, agreed. “Many directors fall in love with their own footage. You have to give it up and tell the story.”
“I never fell in love with my own footage,” Giraldi said.
Aspiring actress Jenna DiMartini of the Lincroft section of Middletown was among the attendees at Giraldi’s program. She asked him how difficult it was for directors to cast the right actor in the right role.
“Directors have to be flexible. You have to look at those who audition and say could this part be filled by someone older or younger,” Giraldi said.
In the 1980s, Giraldi shifted from commercial work to music videos on MTV. His work included Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”
“I came along at a good time. I was fortunate. Timing in this business is everything. It was the same when I came into the advertising business. That was at a time when it was starting and was very innovative,” Giraldi added.
Giraldi’s presentation Saturday featured a 20-minute video featuring snippets of his work in commercials, music videos and films he directed.
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