No Smoke has added Aram Rappaport to its directorial roster. He just directed via the production company an Optimum Cable campaign for The Martin Agency.
While this is Rappaport’s initial ad effort for No Smoke, it’s hardly his first time in the director’s chair. He opted to write and direct a feature film rather than attend college at age 18. While many pursue that path, few persist—as Rappaport did—to the finish line. The result of his journey was “Innocent,” an ambitious one-take drama starring Alexa Vega. He’s since written and directed more feature films, including “Syrup” starring Amber Heard, Brittany Snow, Shiloh Fernandez and Kellan Lutz (Magnolia Pictures), and “The Crash” (January 2017), which stars Minnie Driver, John Leguizamo, Frank Grillo, Dianna Agron and AnnaSophia Robb. Leguizamo introduced the director to No Smoke’s leaders.
This is fitting because Leguizamo actually stars in the Optimum ads, which focus on the company’s app. In “John vs. John,” Leguizamo, the character actor/comedian/cable customer, goes up against himself in various guises that represent his favorite content. As he interacts with his flirty woman, foreign chef and street-hustler selves, the audience learns that they can get all their favorite content on their smartphones. The 30-second ad tags with, “Optimum. Let’s connect more.”
Rappaport’s commercial credits include campaigns for Nike, Hasbro, Dalmore Whisky, One Teaspoon, Misfit Wearables, Betterment, Vroom.com and IT Cosmetics.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” Tops Weekend Box Office
In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures' "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" sped past the Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" to take the top spot at the box office ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 3" debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates. With strong reviews (86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a high score from audiences (an "A" on CinemaScore), "Sonic 3" is well positioned to be the top choice in cinemas during the busiest moviegoing period of the year.
It was telling of some wider trends that "Sonic 3" — made for $122 million — bested one of Disney's top properties. Videogame adaptations, once among the most derided movie genres, have emerged as one of the most dependable box office forces in recent years. The two previous "Sonic" movies together grossed more $700 million worldwide and the third installment appears likely to do better than both of them. A fourth "Sonic" movie is already in development.
"Mufasa," however, was humbled in its opening weekend, with its $35 million in domestic ticket sales coming in notably shy of expectations . The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel even opened wider than "Sonic 3," launching on 4,100 theaters and gobbling up most IMAX screens, compared with 3,761 locations for "Sonic 3."
Though "Mufasa's" reviews were poor (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore.
"Sonic 3" nearly doubled the haul for "Mufasa," which cost more than $200 million to make. Disney could look to $87.2 million in international sales to help make up the difference. The third "Sonic" will rollout in most overseas markets in the coming weeks.
In director Jeff... Read More