With a mission to discover top emerging artists looking to make their industry mark, and following on the heels of the 10th Annual SHOOT New Directors Showcase Screening Event, that took place at the DGA Theatre in NYC on May 17, the editors of SHOOT® Magazine, the leading publication for commercial, branded content and entertainment production, announced today the release of The SHOOT New Directors Showcase Web Reel featuring work from 31 directors and 1 directing trio after a 3 month global search, to be included in this year’s Showcase. The field of talent is wide ranging from freelance directors, many of whom are seeking production company affiliations, to a noted agency creative who’s transitioned to full-time director and just landed his first production house roost, to a filmmaker who saw her short subject documentary earn an Academy Award® nomination this year.
Twenty of the directors appeared at the Showcase event, May 17th at the DGA Theater in New York City, with five participating in a panel discussion during which they related their backstories and strategies for breaking into the directorial ranks. Also on the panel providing production house and ad agency perspectives on the marketplace for new directing talent were Bonnie Goldfarb, co-founder and executive producer, harvest and Marion Lange, VP and executive producer, DDB NY. The work entered in this year’s New Directors search conducted from January to the end of March included documentaries, features, commercials, alternative media content, music videos, shorts and spec work. From comedy to drama, spots to movie excerpts, stop-action to dialogue driven to visual effects fantasy–that’s just a sampling of the range of emotions, genres, mediums and styles on this year’s SHOOT’s 2012 New Directors Showcase Reel.
Samples of the the Selected Work on the NDS Reel
Ariel Martin, Bars and Tone, short film
Rhys Thomas, Saturday Night Live’s British Movie, mock trailer
Andreas Roth, Dirt Devil’s “The Exorcist,” viral student spec spot
Unaffiliated
This year’s Showcase Reel includes ten directors who have no production house affiliations, two of whom have agency backgrounds.
Lawrence Chen made the SHOOT Showcase on the strength of such work as the online spot “Little Things” for The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). Chen is currently a producer at BBDO New York and moonlights as a director.
And Aron Paul Orton, who is also sans a production company home, earned Showcase inclusion on the basis of Taller San Jose’s “Home of Second Chance—Woman” PSA for agency DGWB, Santa Ana, Calif. Orton broke into the ad business via DGWB, starting in the mail room and working his way into the creative department, later building the shop’s in-house edit bay. He established himself as an editor there, cutting for such clients as Wienerschnitzel, Toshiba Copiers, Ryka, Hilton Garden Inn and the L.A. Dodgers.
Rounding out the field of unaffiliated helmers in this year’s Showcase are:
• Brian McAllister who scored for his short film “The Man At The Counter.” McAllister started his career editing for a range of TV networks including National Geographic, A&E, and OWN. He was involved in producing documentary TV series such as Jacked for A&E and Dangerous Drives for the Speed Channel, and edited Jonathan Caouette’s feature film Walk Away Renee.
• Marshall Harrington whose directorial entries include “Pawsitive Pals,” an online spot for the San Diego Hospice.
• Habib Semaan who earned Showcase status for his short film “Bombs.”
• Martin Rodahl whose Special Olympics PSA entitled “Speechless” impressed Showcase judges.
• John Ryan Johnson who directed “Nine To Five,” a spec spot for the NBA Summer League.
• M. Keegan Uhl who helmed Doritos’ “Babysitter” spec spot.
• Steve Peterson who directed the television program “Valentine’s Day Massacre”
• And Michael Stalhberg, director of the online spot “Emily” for Children of the Night.
Teamwork
For the second consecutive year, the Showcase Reel roster had but one directorial team. This was after several years of duos and teams being fairly prominent in the mix.
This year’s team to make the grade was Everynone from Epoch Films. Everynone consists of Will Hoffman, Daniel Mercadante and Julius Metoyer. Contributing to Everynone’s selection for the Showcase was the team’s short film about bullying, “Losers.”
Everynone joined Epoch last year and right out of the gate made its U.S. commercialmaking debut with a Target campaign for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
In addition to “Losers,” Everynone’s short film credits include WORDS, which was featured in the creative showcase YouTube Play at the Guggenheim Museum.
Explore. Share. Comment.
The SHOOT 2012 New Directors Showcase Reel with the selected finalists work, images, comments and more is live at http://nds.SHOOTonline.com along with profiles of each director as well as contact information. With a click of the “menu” button on the NDS Web Reel video player, visitors can share a selected piece of work with anyone or post work on other sites like facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr, or Digg with easy linking, sharing, and embed features. SHOOT’s worldwide audience of professional creatives, filmmakers, commercialmakers, agency & studio production and postproduction executives are invited to comment about on the work and read the comments. A complete finalists list of directors chosen for The SHOOT 2012 10th Annual New Directors Showcase Reel and a few video selections of work from the reel to represent the high caliber of work on this years reel is below.
The SHOOT 2012 10th Annual New Directors Showcase Reel features the following directors… (alphabetical order by last name)
• Everlast’s “Everlast Astral,” spec Directed by Eddie Alcazar Meet director & view work here
• Chevy’s “Imagination” Directed by Andrea Ball Meet director & view work here
• Nike’s “Larry Fitzgerald” online spot Directed by Manny Barnardez Meet director & view work here
• VH1 Save The Music’s “My Mother,” spec Directed by Matt Bieler Meet director & view work here
• “Fire,” short film Directed by Chanya Button Meet director & view work here
• Belgard’s “Be Prepared” Directed by Ben Callner Meet director & view work here
• TEEB’s “Little Things” online spot Directed by Lawrence Chen Meet director & view work here
• “Losers,” short film Directed by Everynone Meet directorial trio & view work here
• “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement,” short film Directed by Robin Fryday Meet director & view work here
• Brother’s “Route 66–Ms. Immethum” Directed by James Gooding Meet director & view work here
• San Diego Hospice’s “Pawsitive Pals,” online short Directed by Marshall Harrington Meet director & view work here
• Levi’s “Life Is Calling,” student spec Directed by Hanna Maria Heidrich Meet director & view work here
• Honda’s “Generation to Generation” online spot Directed by Eran Hilleli Meet director & view work here
• “American Dreams” short film Directed by David Holm Meet director & view work here
• Levi’s “Go Forth” Directed by Jonathan C. Hyde Meet director & view work here
• Ad Council’s “The Salesman,” spec Directed by Jeff Jenkins Meet director & view work here
• NBA Summer League’s “Nine To Five,” spec Directed by John Ryan Johnson Meet director & view work here
• “Bottle,” short film Directed by Kirsten Lepore Meet director & view work here
• Arbor’s “Agave,” spec Directed by Stephan Malik Meet director & view work here
• “Bars and Tone,” short film Directed by Ariel Martin Meet director & view work here
• “The Man At The Counter,” short film Directed by Brian McAllister Meet director & view work here
• Clif Bars’ “Meet The Moment,” online spec Directed by Matt Miadich Meet director & view work here
• Taller San Jose’s “Home Of Second Chance–Woman,” PSA Directed by Aron Paul Orton Meet director & view work here
• “Valentine’s Day Massacre,” TV program, Directed by Steve Petersen Meet director & view work here
• Special Olympics’ “Speechless,” PSA Directed by Martin Rodahl Meet director & view work here
• Hulu’s “So Much Watching To Watch” Directed by Tim Roper Meet director & view work here
• Nike’s “Biomorph” Directed by David Rosenbaum Meet director & view work here
• Dirt Devil’s “The Exorcist,” viral student spec Directed by Andreas Roth Meet director & view work here
• “Bombs,” Short Film Directed by Habib Semaan Meet director & view work here
• Children Of The Night’s “Emily,” online spot Directed by Michael Stahlberg Meet director & view work here
• Saturday Night Live’s “British Movie,” mock trailer Directed by Rhys Thomas Meet director & view work here
• Doritos’ “Babysitter” spec Directed by M. Keegan Uhl Meet director & view work here
SHOOT 2012 Directors/Producers Forum & New Directors Showcase Event Sponsors
This year The DGA along with production companies harvest and ONE at Optimus were “Lead Sponsors”. Kodak, media & entertainment law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, and ARRI were “Silver Sponsors”. “Bronze Sponsors” were Moxie Pictures and The Nevada Film Office. SHOOT greatly appreciates the support of each sponsor.
About The New Directors Search / The New Directors Showcase Reel
Each year SHOOT conducts a worldwide search from January through March to discover the best up-and-coming directors who, based on their initial work, show promise to soon make major positive contributions to advertising and/or entertainment in its traditional and emerging forms. The search and selection process is conducted by SHOOT’s editorial staff with input from advertising agency creative directors & heads of production, as well as production company heads and established directors.
To enter the search, a director must be directing any type of advertising or entertainment content professionally less than 3 years, and work completed between January 2011 and March 2012 was eligible to be entered.
About SHOOT Magazine
SHOOT® Magazine is the leading publication for commercial, branded content and entertainment production. SHOOT Magazine is edited for agency & studio creatives & producers, commercial and entertainment production/post industry executives and artisans, and brand marketer production executives. Through its “News” and “ScreenWork” sections, “Columns” and in-depth “Features”, each issue publishes timely news, relevant information and a behind-the-scenes look at the best new work and profiles/interviews with industry news makers. In addition, SHOOT reports on the latest cinematography, post & editing technology and equipment. If the work involves advertising and entertainment motion picture content that consumers view on a screen—a TV screen, Cinema screen, Computer screen, Mobile screen or Game screen, SHOOT is searching out who’s doing the most innovative work and what’s coming next. For further information please visit SHOOTonline® at www.SHOOTonline.com. Follow SHOOT on Twitter here. Get SHOOT News & Features, SPW News, and Industry “Buzz” mobile web app on your mobile smartphone here.
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