Pushing the Boundaries

“Roll cameras,” instructs commercial director Zack Snyder. “Here we go.”

A gymnast nails a one-handed handstand as red-nosed clowns in oversize shoes waddle after her onto a Hollywood sound stage.

It’s all part of a grand, circus-themed commercial for a large fast-food chain--the sort of elaborately produced TV spot that has helped put HSI Productions on the map.

HSI, founded 11 years ago by former New York advertising rep Stavros Merjos, has increasingly gained recognition as a cutting-edge commercial production house. From its headquarters in Venice, the 30-person company has produced spots ranging in price from about $600,000 to $1.5 million for major corporate clients such as AT&T;, Coca-Cola, General Motors, IBM, and Levi Strauss.

Merjos, a heavily tattooed, spiky-haired 38-year-old, comes off as a supercharged industry player. He’s built his company’s revenue from $6 million in 1986 to $65 million last year to a projected $80 million for 1997.

He’s done that in part by assembling a roster of sought-after commercial directors and doing what it takes to make them happy. HSI wooed Snyder from another production company with hard-to-resist perks, including an office in Old Town Pasadena near his home.

Beyond that, HSI has formed a subsidiary to manage the careers of its commercial directors, helping them snag feature film projects.

“We want to build a small, hip new Regency,” said Merjos, boldly referring to the highly successful production boutique that produced such films as “JFK” and “Heat.” Last summer, HSI teamed up with a foreign financier to form HSI Tomorrow, which landed a first-look co-production deal with Warner Bros.

Although Merjos isn’t a filmmaker, he understands the world of commercial production. His company, which also produces music videos, is known for large, visual works. Among its more memorable spots are a Mountain Dew commercial featuring three women performing daring stunts and a Levi Slates spot where a man jumps over rooftops to meet his girlfriend.

“They have some young, fresh directors . . . who always push the boundaries of what we’re trying to do,” said Ben Grylewicz, executive producer of broadcast productions for Portland, Ore.-based Wieden & Kennedy, whose clients include Nike and Coca-Cola.

Bob Shriber, senior vice president, director and senior producer for Ammirati Puris Lintas, ranks HSI among the top four commercial production houses. “It’s a company that I feel I can rely on, and there’s going to be plenty of support,” said Shriber, whose agency does work for UPS.

Merjos has aroused controversy on his way to the top. People who have worked with him paint a colorful portrait of a man who can be engaging and dedicated as well as driven and ambitious.

Merjos doesn’t quibble with the description. “I like to win, and I hire people who like to win,” he said. “People like to take shots at you. If I wasn’t successful, they wouldn’t say anything.”

Barbara Gold--HSI’s first executive producer, who’s now with Five Union Square Productions--said Merjos can be insensitive. She recalled an incident in which Merjos was unsympathetic when an HSI executive was late for work because his child’s baby sitter was in a bus accident.

“That clued me in to his relentless drive without any consideration for someone having a personal crisis. His priorities always were work,” Gold said.

Merjos said he doesn’t remember the incident and that Gold is a disgruntled former employee.

Merjos has irked competitors, too. FM Rocks Inc. has accused HSI of unfairly swiping one of its directors. In May, the Santa Monica-based company filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against HSI, accusing it of interfering with its contract with music video director Paul Hunter. The suit charges that HSI “decided to ‘raid’ [FM Rocks] by inducing” Hunter “to wrongfully terminate” his directors’ agreement to join HSI. FM Rocks also alleges that HSI engaged in unfair competition.

HSI denies the allegations.

Commercial director Matthew Harris, who was affiliated with HSI from 1987 to 1988, said Merjos is the “ultimate salesman. . . . You can’t quite figure out if you love him or hate him. Probably both.”

It is Merjos’ ability to promote and please talented directors that has made HSI so successful.

Jim Sonzero, 36, who joined HSI three years ago, applauds Merjos for establishing a creative environment and for “fighting for what’s best for the job as opposed to just trying to make money. I feel like I’ve really bloomed here,” he said.

Snyder explained why he recently rejoined HSI after leaving it: “They have enough influence in the industry that it makes a difference to me as far as what work I get.”

Merjos got his start in commercial production at Jim Johnston Films Inc. in New York, holding jobs as skateboard messenger, production assistant and then advertising sales rep. To this day, Merjos’ old boss Jim Johnston raves about his former sales rep’s skills.

“He just has an instinct for the business,” Johnston said. “I was skeptical at first that such a young kid could be our rep, but he won us over pretty quickly. The first year he did so well that we bought him a Jaguar for Christmas.

” I would tell him I wanted to work on a particular agency or account, and he would beat on those doors until he got a storyboard out of them.”

Ambition drove Merjos to leave Johnston Films and form HSI in 1986 with commercial director Henry Holtzman, who left the partnership about two years later. (The “H” in “HSI” stands for Holtzman, the “S” for Stavros, and the “I” for Inc.)

When reached, Holtzman refused to discuss the breakup or Merjos, but people familiar with both men say the parting was acrimonious.

Advertising agency executives praise HSI for accommodating tight-production schedules and budgets.

Judy D’Mello, associate creative director for M&C; Saatchi, said HSI was “flexible enough with the numbers” to outbid two other directors for work on an award-winning Packard Bell commercial that contrasted a gloomy world to a sunny home.

“HSI really made this job happen,” D’Mello said. “Nothing fell through the cracks, and there was a lot of coordinating to be done.”

Now, in addition to expanding his commercial business, Merjos is seeking to fulfill his cinematic aspirations.

Merjos founded HSI Management, which is spearheaded by former talent agent Adam Rosenfelt, 27. The new division, which has already signed six of HSI’s 18 directors, is designed to groom directors’ careers for the feature film arena--a move that helps HSI keep its talented commercial directors.

Earlier this month, HSI Tomorrow greenlit its first project, a $7-million romantic comedy, “The Third Wheel.” HSI Tomorrow will fully finance films up to $20 million and co-finance movies up to $50 million.

It’s not uncommon for commercial production houses to try to segue into movies, said Matt Miller, president of the Assn. of Independent Commercial Producers, which represents 270 production companies nationwide. But Miller was hard-pressed to cite a successful example other than the PolyGram-owned Propaganda Films.

Trying to make movies is time-consuming. “Commercial production is so lucrative,” said one insider. “Every minute that they’re playing around with a feature film is money lost to them.”

That doesn’t intimidate Merjos.

“The fact that we have an entree into a lot of the best young talents directing in the business is very exciting to a lot of the studios,” he said. “I’ll be able to bring them the type of projects that would mirror the type of talent that work here--cool and funky.”