Digital studio Reel FX, Dallas/Santa Monica, has signed director Elliot Dillman for U.S. commercial representation. His directorial experience spans commercials, branded content, music videos and multi-camera live events. He has worked on national campaigns for agencies including GSD&M, CP+B, Leo Burnett, Y&R and BBDO, directing for Dominos Pizza, Pacifico Beer and Kraft Mac and Cheese, among others. Prior to signing, Dillman collaborated with Reel FX on a number of projects, including a recent spot for Hasbro.
“Elliot is an accomplished director, gifted at integrating live action, graphics, and animation, who excels at bringing out the best in talent,” said Steve Johnson, Reel FX’s executive producer of live production. “Having grown up in the commercial industry, he’s been a storyteller from a young age. I am confident that he will be a major talent at Reel FX as we expand and develop our live action and VR divisions.”
Dillman grew up on sets. As the oldest son of Emmy-winning director Ray Dillman, he was regularly working as a PA from age 12 on, for production companies including GARTNER and MJZ. While studying at Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television, Dillman began his directing career with multi-camera live concert shoots for the ESPN Summer and Winter X Games, staying with the X Games for four consecutive seasons. After graduating, he primarily directed feature film tie-in spots for Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and Paramount Studios. He also directed a number of music videos at this time for bands such as Pennywise, Strung Out and Death By Stereo, as well as helming national advertising campaigns for such brands as the Walt Disney Company and Royal Purple Motor Oil.
Juliette Welfling Takes On A Musical, A Crime Thriller, Comedy and Drama In “Emelia Pérez”
Editor Juliette Welfling has a track record of close-knit, heartfelt collaboration with writer-director Jacques Audiard, a four-time BAFTA Award nominee for Best Film not in the English Language--starting with The Beat That My Heart Skipped in 2006, then A Prophet in 2010, Rust and Bone in 2013, and Dheepan in 2017. He won for The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet.
Welfling cut three of those features: A Prophet, Rust and Bone, and Dheepan. And that shared filmography has since grown to most recently include Emelia Pérez, the Oscar buzz-worthy film from Netflix. Welfling herself is not stranger to Academy Award banter. In fact, she earned a Best Achievement in Film Editing Oscar nomination in 2008 for director Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Emelia Pérez is a hybrid musical/drama/thriller which introduces us to a talented but undervalued lawyer named Rita (portrayed by Zoe Saldana) who receives a lucrative offer out of the blue from a feared drug cartel boss who’s looking to retire from his sordid business and disappear forever by becoming the woman he’s always dreamt of being (Karla Sofía Gascón in a dual role as Manitas Del Monte/Emilia Pérez). Rita helps pull this off, orchestrating the faked death of Del Monte who leaves behind a widow (Jessi, played by Selena Gomez) and kids. While living comfortably and contently in her/their new identity, Pérez misses the children. Pérez once again enlists Rita--this time to return to family life, reuniting with the kids by pretending to be their aunt, the sister of Del Monte. Now as an aunt, Pérez winds up adopting a more altruistic bent professionally,... Read More