On Thursday, May 7, the East Coast Special Projects Committee hosted "Tales From the Golden Age" on the 7th floor conference room of the Guild's New York headquarters.

The evening was a look at the history of television commercials featuring some of the classic ads that defined an era. That look was conducted by a panel of legendary commercial directors made up of Neil Tardio, Ed Bianchi, George Gomes and Henry Sandbank, who engaged in an entertaining discourse moderated by director David Gray.

The program began with a brief montage of the directors' most memorable work, along with other unforgettable ads from over the years. Throughout the evening, the panelists reminisced over their experiences as commercial directors in a period when the medium was still being defined. Each director recalled some of their more famous campaigns, entertaining the audience with stories and anecdotes from this period.

Moderator Gray and members of the audience, prompted the panelists to explain how they felt the role of the director has changed over the years in television commercial advertising. When asked about their memories as directors during that period of time, each panelist responded with the word "freedom" - freedom of creativity, freedom of experimentation and the freedom to use their skills to create some of the most iconic advertisements ever.

"Tales from the Golden Age" Panelists:

• Henry Sandbank
• Neil Tardio
• George Gomes
• Ed Bianchi