By Millie Takaki

Ericson Core, a noted feature film cinematographer, has secured his first exclusive production company representation as a spot director, signing with Plum Productions, the longstanding Santa Monica-based house founded by president/CEO Chuck Sloan and director Eric Saarinen.

At press time, Core was about to embark on his initial Plum assignment, a five-spot branding campaign for Pontiac’s Grand Am and Grand Prix via agency Chemistri, Troy, Mich.

Core comes aboard the Plum roster as a director/cameraman. He is best known for his DP work on such movies as Daredevil, Payback, 187 and The Fast and the Furious, but he is no stranger to commercials. For example, he directed and shot two Infiniti ads in late 2002 for TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, which were run through Mutiny Productions, the agency’s in-house production shop. Core also helmed and lensed a campaign promoting ShoBox on Showtime, which was created in-house at the cable network.

Additionally, Core is experienced in music videos, having directed clips for such artists as Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and The Dread Filmstone for Motown. He recently wrapped a video for Booya Tribe, and he has served as DP on clips for performers including the Goo Goo Dolls, Train, Moby and Michael Jackson. Core doesn’t currently have any formal music video representation. The Booya Tribe clip was produced by Spark Hill Productions, Los Angeles.

Core rounds out a spot directorial lineup at Plum that also includes Saarinen, Jan De Bont, Bob Rice, Luca Maroni, Adam Cohen and Dana Christiaansen. Executive producers are company partner Thom Tyson and Shelby Sexton.

Drawing Core to Plum were its talent, the shop’s body of work and its extensive commercialmaking experience over the past two-plus decades. Additionally, Plum is well versed in bringing feature filmmaking talent into the TV ad arena, as evidenced by its long running spot relationship with Jan De Bont, whose movie directing credits include Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, The Haunting, Speed and Twister. De Bont first gained industry recognition as a DP with a résumé that includes such films as Lethal Weapon 3, Basic Instinct, Black Rain and The Hunt for Red October.

Core also plans to diversify into feature film directing. Toward that end, he is currently reviewing screenplays.

Core’s formal industry training began at an early age. He attended Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Calif., at the age of 16 on a full scholarship, earning a B.A. in fine arts. He then studied film production and directing at the USC School of Cinema-Television, Los Angeles, where he received a B.A. degree. He later returned to Art Center to earn a master of fine arts degree in directing and cinematography.

Almost immediately after graduation, Core began directing music videos for the aforementioned Motown artists. At the same time, he began to develop a reputation as a top-drawer DP of music clips. This work caught the attention of The Gersh Agency, Beverly Hills, Calif., which began repping Core for feature assignments. Within a matter of months, he was working with director Kevin Reynolds on 187, which starred Samuel L. Jackson. That led to his shooting the Mel Gibson film, Payback, directed by Brian Hegeland. Then came director Lawrence Kasden’s Mumford, followed by helmer Rob Cohen’s The Fast and the Furious (Cohen is repped as a commercial director via bicoastal Original Film), and most recently, the Mark Steven Johnson-directed Daredevil.

"I think people are responding to my look, which is decidedly darker," observed Core. "I always try to push the limits of what things look like and what the story is, and make the visuals connect with the characters in a deeper way."

Plum Productions is repped on the West Coast by Annie Bossingham and Brad Grubaugh of Boss Talent, Venice, Calif.; in the Midwest by Rob Mueller and David Wagner of David Wagner & Associates, Chicago; and on the East Coast by New York-based Lorin Munchick of TribeNYC.

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