By Millie Takaki
HOLLYWOOD—Director Tony Garcia, a.k.a. Tony G.—formerly of Palomar Pictures, which closed earlier this year (SHOOT, 3/14, p. 1)—has joined Hollywood-based Motel Films for exclusive spot representation in the United States and Canada. He will be available for both general market and Hispanic commercials. Garcia is best known in the latter arena, and he continues to be repped in Mexico by Omni Productions, Mexico City.
During his tenure at Palomar Pictures’ Latino American division, which he joined in 2001, Garcia helmed ads for such clients as Budweiser, Texaco and the L.A. Cable Co-Op. His work for Texaco, out of Young & Rubicam, Miami, earned a Bronze FIAP Award, a major honor in the Buenos Aires ad community. Most recently, Garcia directed a Best Buy spot for Miami agency La Communidad.
Palomar Pictures Latino American was Garcia’s first formal spot roost. He landed there largely on the strength of an industry-recognized spec reel, which featured performance/dialogue ads for Nike, Consumer Reports, Hebrew National Hot Dogs, Southern California Edison, the NBA, Sony and Staples.
The spec commercials for Consumer Reports and Staples garnered two of the three honors in the student category of the ’01 Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show. The Staples piece, "Gotcha," also copped a Bronze Clio in the student category. And his Nike spec spot, "Beatboxer," garnered a Gold Student Clio in ’01. Garcia directed, shot and conceptualized all of his spec work.
A native of Southern California, Garcia graduated with a master’s degree in film from Pasadena, Calif.’s Art Center College of Design in ’01. In ’96, he earned an undergraduate degree in film from Chapman University, Orange, Calif., and was named film student of the year by Chapman’s film department. A year earlier, he had been named the school’s cinematographer of the year. He went on to serve as DP on two feature-length films, Degenerate, directed by Phil Thurman in ’97, and Consequence, a student thesis film for helmer Samer Al Asaid in ’98. Garcia also lensed assorted short films, including Splinter, which was a finalist for a Student Academy Award in ’99.
Director Rick Dublin, president of Motel Films, said the company was drawn to Garcia based on his "strength in performance and dialogue work, coupled with his cinematography background."
Garcia joins a directorial roster at Motel that also includes Dublin, Todd Korgan and Eric Young. The company also handles director Jarl Olsen for select projects. Michael Crapser was recently named Motel’s executive producer (SHOOT, 10/10, p. 7). The shop’s spot sales team consists of independent reps John Naitove on the East Coast, Tim Harwood in the Midwest, Sandra Riley on the West Coast and Dan Reichard in the Southeast.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More