It wasn’t only their work but also feedback from a directing team selected for the 2015 SHOOT New Directors Showcase that struck a responsive chord with me. The Showcase–now in its 13th year, and set to be celebrated with an evening screening, panel discussion and afterparty at the DGA Theatre on New York City on Thursday, May 21–has always been a source of gratification for us at SHOOT, helping new talent to gain industry exposure. Then from that point on, SHOOT watches and often chronicles how these directors’ careers advance over the years.
A new perspective, though, emerged as to the extent of that gratification and what that career progression is about when the directorial duo the Perez Brothers, in response to our New Directors Showcase survey (portions of which appear in this issue), identified their favorite piece of branded content–”unskippale” YouTube ads for Geico. The Perez Brothers noted that the Geico work came from another directorial team, Terri Timeley which consists of Corey Creasey and Ian Kibbey. Terri Timeley is now handled for commercials and branded content by Park Pictures. Back in 2006, Terri Timeley earned a slot in SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase.
Terri Timeley and the Perez Brothers are both Bay Area directing teams whose inclusion in our Showcase is separated by nine years. To now reach the point where new Showcase directors are citing the work of their Showcase predecessors represents a new coming of age. Just as one experience informs another, so too can a director’s work influence or be admired by another, and to have that dynamic take hold in our Showcase resonates with us.
And perhaps the Perez Brothers’ humorous short film titled The Weigh In will one day be cited several years down the road by another director in our Showcase.
SHOOT has seen Showcase directors go on to make high-profile theatrical features, earn Emmy nominations, win a DGA Award, garner Cannes Lions, garner a One Show Entertainment Awards Gold Pencil, even make a feature directorial debut at the Tribeca Film Festival. But in our mind’s eye, ranking with those achievements, is a simple acknowlegement by a new Showcase director of a Showcase predecessor, underscoring and reminding us of the bond that exists among filmmakers, from those starting out to those who are more accomplished and how they influence and impact one another.
