Word is that a new series of BMW short films is in the works, again with bicoastal Anonymous Content securing feature helmers for the projects, which will run on bmwfilms.com. The initial series of shorts—helmed by Ang Lee, John Frankenheimer, Guy Ritchie, Wong Kar-Wai and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu—has generated significant traffic on the BMW Web site (SHOOT, 5/11, p. 1). Ad agency is Fallon Minneapolis….Speaking of the BMW films, the first short to hit the Internet earlier this year—the Frankenheimer-directed Ambush—entailed extensive shooting on public roads in California. That production tapped into Film California First, the anti-runaway production program which provides reimbursement for certain filming-related costs. According to the California Film Commission, which administers the program, Film California First reimbursed more than $17,000 to the Ambush project. Film California First recently received a state budget allocation of $10 million for its second year (SHOOT, 8/10, p. 1)….Animation director/designer Denis Morella has officially come aboard San Francisco animation studio Wild Brain. His last roost was the former San Francisco office of New York-headquartered Curious Pictures. Prior to that, he had a long tenure at now defunct (Colossal) Pictures….Crew Cuts, with bases of operation in New York and Santa Monica, has reopened its San Francisco office, securing space in the building that houses post/effects house Radium. Christie Cash, who was named executive producer of Crew Cuts/West, Santa Monica, in June, will also assume executive producer duties at Crew Cuts, San Francisco….Fireworks Motion Media, a Miami-based postproduction/visual effects studio, has been purchased from Steve Minor by company staffers Wally Rodriguez and Anabella Sosa. The firm has been renamed Upstairs, with Rodriguez as director of visual effects, and Sosa acting as director of creative services….Editor Grant MacDowell has joined Venice, Calif.-based Brass Knuckles….
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More