This story just won’t die, hard as we may try to forget about it. It goes like this: Martin Scorsese, famous director, was allegedly slated to work on the 2010 Census Bureau campaign with DraftFCB. And then Scorsese signed the petition to release Roman Polanski. And then DraftFCB and Scorsese part ways, allegedly due to said petition signing. The way it was put to us: Scorsese was fired.
We’ve been to hell and back digging around for this story and the only conclusive details was could ascertain is that no one at DraftFCB knows if Scorsese was slated to work on the campaign. No one. Not even the Census Bureau, who was kind enough to send us a list of directors:
“As production gears up for the 2010 Census advertising campaign, DraftFCB and their subcontractors will be utilizing multiple directors, including some that are well known. At this time, only eight directors have been hired and they are: Roman Coppola, Twin, Sergio Piera, Shilo, Joe Pytka, Christine Jeffs, Miles Goodall and Fredrik Callinggard.”
Well fine. We responded, asking if Scorsese had ever been considered or if maybe he had been on that list but wasn’t anymore. That question seemed relevant because initially the Census rep. said, “there are nine directors.” But the list only has eight names. When asked about the discrepancy the rep said, “oh that was my mistake.” OK, fine, again.
But it was more than a little odd to us that no one at Draft could definitively say, “no, Scorsese was never hired or considered for this campaign.” Shouldn’t someone have been able to? Certainly, Draft would want to have a portfolio piece directed by the man — he’s a legend and everything he touches turns to gold…unless you’re talking Get-Roman-Polanski-Out-Of-Jail petitions. That’s a horse of a different color.
Then there’s the tips we’ve gotten, the latest of which may provide insight into the lack of info from Draft regarding Scorsese’s employment there:
“Even mentioning the name Martin Scorsese in the office now will lead to a public lashing, and he is only to be referred to as MS. So, who to replace him? The initials RH are being increasingly. Not sure who they mean, but I’m sure his commercial will make a ‘splash'”
Well, there is no RH on that list. Then again, the whole ‘nine directors’ thing could play in there. It’s just confusing.
We reached out to Scorsese’s publicist, his manager, his agent at William Morris Endeavor. None were available for comment. But one thing is for sure here: we were run through the PR meat grinder. One call lead to another, like they do, until we ended up back where we started. Nowhere. Which has landed me here reporting this totally unsubstantiated rumor about a man who may have lost a small gig because he stuck up for someone. Go figure.