28 November 2008
	LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT - KEITH ROSE The rose who rose and rose By Matebello Motloung SA film genius has become a legend in the international commercials industry

The first three minutes in Keith Rose's presence feels like a sales pitch: name, organisation, reason for the interview, overall objective of the meeting. It's Wednesday morning at the multi award-winning TV commercials director's Cape Town company, Velocity Films. The office is big - two floors with lots of open space. There's no problem chatting between floors. I've been warned Rose is always busy and I should arrive prepared. I'd spent the previous day going through showreels sent by his PR manager. "How much do you know about production?" he asks, standing at Velocity's coffee area just outside his office on the ground floor. "Nothing," I admit. There's a look of instant despair on his face. Desperate to save the "pitch", I quickly add: "I know nothing but I'm open to learning." He smiles. We take a seat. Coffee is served. Dressed in a green golf T-shirt, jeans and black sandals, Rose is surprisingly calm for someone who heads the biggest production company in SA. "I don't run this place, I founded it but I just work here like everybody else," he says. "I'm told you're media shy," I ask. "Is this true?" He answers slowly, taking a minute to think as he sips his coffee. "Nah. I think it's just locally that we don't have proper coverage of the advertising industry. Take Cape Town, I'm not sure what the number is but for an industry that big..." The interview is interrupted by one of his staff, just back from a shoot in Namibia. The two spend about five minutes discussing the material he's brought back, and the equipment and method he used when filming. "You're going to love the stuff we brought back," says the cameraman, who does most of the talking, while Rose listens. Back to the interview. Rose continues: "I think there's a lot of work being done on a very high level. The technology and infrastructure involved need to be covered in a way that is informed and interesting. But you may be busy on a big shoot and a journalist asks: What inspired you to make this commercial? "Huh? This is why we don't have good coverage of the industry because speaking to a person on that level makes you converse in a different way, or else you'll end up talking about the ABC of production." It's almost 9.30 am, time to do the rounds. Rose has a team of 70 people, including seven directors. Many of the staff are out on projects. True to the PR manager's warning, it's hectic at Velocity, a company Rose started with US-born business partner Barry Munchick almost two decades ago. At that time, getting work from international agencies was almost unheard of. SA was shunned by the international business community in the late stages of the anti-apartheid era. However, having established himself in the local industry, Rose was keen to showcase his talent internationally. To get around the trade restrictionns, he partnered Munchick, who at the time was a producer in New York. Nearly two decades later, Velocity is a phenomenal success. It has offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg and was rated the fourth-best production company in the world at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Rose is named by Campaign magazine as one of the five most influential directors internationally - some achievement for the son of a miner who grew up in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg. But then, Rose is very driven. He is direct about it but not boastful. He began his film career at the SABC working as a cameraman shooting TV shows. His talent soon shone through and he became one of the most sought-after lighting cameramen in the industry. To improve his art, he worked with acclaimed directors such as Peter Smillie and Leslie Dektor. He turned his attention to directing commercials in the mid-1980s, joining the then-prolific David Feldman Productions. By 1990, he had become a household name through a collection of local and international awards. These included his first Gold Lion statue at the Cannes International Advertising Festival for the iconic Mercedes-Benz Chapmans Peak commercial. He then decided to go solo, influenced by the need to be in "total control" of his vision. His first client was advertising agency Leo Burnett for whom he did an advert for pots and pans. "I don't think it was an exceptional advert but it was not one of many," he says, smiling at the memory. Generally, though, he does not hark back. "Once I'm done with a project, I don't look at it ever again. I just move on." Perhaps that's to avoid disappointment. "Once I finish a job, I always think I could have done it better." His team is working on three presentations for major international clients. Rose himself is wrapping up several other projects, including the sequel to Ogilvy Johannesburg's Brrr campaign for Coke, which he promises will be better than the first. If he is under pressure, Rose does not show it. Peak season at Velocity is all-year round. "Cape Town has a season, and that's summer time. Not me. I have a 12-month season." Rose prefers to have the same people working with him on projects. These included producer Liam Johnston (who has since left), with whom he shared an office. Johnston used to manage Rose's diary. The third person who's been in the office is Rose's daughter, Kerry, the productions manager. The office is a simple open-plan with a centrepiece table-tennis table that doubles as a work table. There are four computer workstations, none of them Rose's. "We all used computers except for Keith," says Johnston. "He stores everything in his memory, doesn't even take notes. I don't know how he does it." Upstairs, first stop is the research department where I'm told Rose spends hours, sometimes days, on end. The team has recently been working round the clock, preparing for a commercial for a Scandinavian-based client. "What do you have for me?" Rose asks lightly, pulling up a chair. Listening to the team explain their research into the culture, look and feel of the Scandinavian countries they've looked at, it's clear Rose's favourite questions start with "why", "how" and "when". He is obsessed with detail and expects his team to be the same. "You need to arm yourself with enough information so that should the client say this is not the case, you can present a counter-argument. That way they can't bully you," he tells them. Rose has won seven Cannes Gold Lions, among many awards, during his almost two decades as a director. One of his greatest achievements was the legendary BMW "Mouse" TV advert shot 16 years ago. The advert, which highlights the sensitivity of the brand's power-steering, features a mouse running along a BMW steering-wheel. The ad resulted in Rose being inducted into the TV Hall of Fame of the US-based Clio international advertising awards. He is also a member of the SA Creative Circle's Hall of Fame - one of only eight since it was born in 1994. The others are Brian Searle-Tripp, John Hunt, Robyn Putter, Willie Sonnenberg, Terry Murphy, Alan Bunton and Roger Makin. "The reality is that when you get awards it buys you credibility," Rose says matter-of-factly. "But sometimes some of your best work doesn't win awards." More recently, Rose was selected by Shots - a UK-based publication and website for the commercials production industry - as one of its Top 100 advertising people of all time. "I think when you've been around a couple of years like I have, they give you a pension," he says lightly. There are two Gold Loeries and three Grand Prix on the shelf in his office, accompanied by a couple of certificates. None is prominently displayed. Rose's magic ingredient for his success, other than genius, is confidence and a strong distaste for mediocrity. "I don't like doing bad ads. It knocks your self-confidence." He likes to tell aspirant directors confidence is necessary to survive the creative jungle. "Directing is about confidence. You need to inspire confidence in the agency and the client. Most new directors feel apprehensive and end up not giving of themselves." He also worries that young story-tellers want success too quickly. "They don't want to wait. When you take a knock in this industry, it's not easy to recover. The more experienced you are, the better able you are to deal with the knocks." It's lunchtime at the office and the team is having beef schwarma with Greek salad and fruit juice, served in the coffee area. Rose opts for the salad. He talks about his ambition to break into the British advertising industry, which he admires, and win a D&AD award, one of the most sought-after in the international industry. "One a year would be nice," he says with a wide smile. However, he says entry into that fraternity is difficult because it's like an "old boys' club. If you're not English, they won't let you in". He says the success of the British advertising industry lies in the nation's culture of theatre, stretching back to William Shakespeare and beyond. "They can tell jokes because they grew up with theatre. They are slick and quick with their humour." Among the agencies he would like to work with is Widen & Kennedy. which he says does the best work in London. On the local scene, one person who has Rose's utmost respect is film editor Ricky Boyd, of Deliverance Post Production. "London has 70 good editors but SA only one. Many people think editing is just about technology but it's not. It comes from the heart. You can learn to push the buttons but to make it different and special comes from the heart. This is what makes Ricky special." On our way to the Waterfront studios where the Coca-Cola Brrr advert is being edited, Rose gives me a taste of riding the black, left-hand-drive Porsche 911 he's owned for 13 years. While others in his field fish and play golf, he races classic Porsches. Family is a strong element in his life. Besides daughter Kerry, there's an 18-year-old son in matric and two other boys aged eight and nine.