Director Jim Edwards has come aboard Santa Monica-based Cognito Films for exclusive spot representation. Edwards had been helming commercials via his Los Angeles-based Barking Weasel Productions, which he continues to maintain for non-spot projects, including some pending longform endeavors.
Edwards’ executive producer at Barking Weasel, Bill Hewes, has also joined Cognito. Hewes will be available to executive-produce for the entire directorial roster at Cognito, a shop founded and headed by executive producer Alan Landau.
At press time, directors Eric Durst and the helming team of Matt & Kyle—who had been repped for spots via Barking Weasel—were in the process of exploring their options and in talks with other production houses. The duo of Matt Bauman and Kyle Einhorn, a.k.a. Matt & Kyle, is best known for its work in comedy. And Durst has been active in combo live action/visual effects spots. A noted visual effects supervisor on theatrical features, Durst is currently serving in that role on The One, a movie starring martial arts expert Jet Li. The action/adventure film is being directed by James Wong and produced by Revolution Studios, Culver City, Calif.
Edwards said that Barking Weasel recently concluded its most successful year. But he decided to link with Cognito to shed the responsibilities of running a commercial production house. He found himself being spread too thin with those obligations, coupled with some emerging longform assignments, as well as work out of Hollywood-based Racing Weasel, an ongoing Barking Weasel division specializing in national advertising for major automobile manufacturers’ motor sports enterprises. Via Racing Weasel, Edwards directs jobs for Toyota Motor Sports, among others.
Additionally, Edwards maintains WeaselWorks, a Santa Monica-based editing division that services his projects and those of outside commercial clients. Devin Kreyder is WeaselWorks’ resident editor. Before establishing himself as a director, Edwards made his initial mark in the commercial industry as an editor, with the now defunct shop Ace & Edie.
Edwards said he was drawn to Cognito by Landau and the opportunity to continue working with Hewes. The director reasoned that his spot focus can be exclusively on the creative end now that he has the support of Cognito. Edwards described Landau and Cognito as being "very strong in sales, with a track record of helping directors. … Alan has built a solid company."
Among Edwards’ latest spot credits via Barking Weasel were: Dodge Ram Trucks’ "Anthem" and "Bars," out of Pentamark, Detroit, and four anti-smoking commercials for the California Department of Health Services (CHDS), from Santa Monica agency Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns & Associates. The CHDS package consisted of documentary-style ads featuring laryngectomy patients. One of the spots reintroduces viewers to Debi, a patient who had appeared in an anti-tobacco ad a couple of years ago in which she was seen smoking through the tracheotomy opening in her throat. (That well-known, earlier spot was directed by Nick Brandt of Palomar Pictures, Los Angeles.) In the Edwards-helmed "Debi2—Addiction," she explains her decision to finally quit smoking for the love of her seven-year-old niece. And in "Debi2—Lying" also helmed by Edwards, she discusses how the tobacco industry lied in claiming that cigarettes aren’t addictive.
Cognito’s roster of directors includes Barry Young, Gary Weis, Danny Boyle, Bob Morrow and Mike Wang. The company is repped on the East Coast by Peter Elegant, in the Midwest by Julie Vargo and Patrice Bockos, and in the Southwest by Jack Reed. Cognito is currently seeking West Coast representation.
