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    Richard Sears Signs With Green Dot Films

    By SHOOT StaffUpdated:No Comments1364 Views

    Director To Embark On A Branded Short For Nissan/DirecTV Via TBWA/Chiat/Day

    By Robert Goldrich

    SANTA MONICA --

    Director Richard Sears has joined Santa Monica-based Green Dot Films. He comes over from Tate USA, Santa Monica. The helmer has already wrapped his first job under the Green Dot banner, a Cox Communications campaign for Doner in Southfield, Mich.

    Additionally, at press time, Sears was about to embark on a Green Dot-produced branded entertainment short for Nissan/DirecTV via TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles. Plans call for the four-minute film to be accessible via DVR on DirecTV.

    Green Dot executive producer Rick Fishbein said he was drawn to Sears’ storytelling, both in spots and longer form. The latter, observed Fishbein, is essential in the evolving ad marketplace with branded content fare starting to emerge, as evidenced by the Nissan/DirecTV project.

    Indeed Sears is no stranger to short films. In fact his thesis project at the Art Institute of San Francisco, An Evil Town, based on a story by Charles Bukowski, won a short film award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995. He later broke into commercials, first at bicoastal HKM Productions in ’96, before moving on to now defunct Coppos Films in ’01. Sears then joined Tate USA about a year and a half ago. While continuing to be active in short films, Sears also built a feature pedigree which includes the independent movie Bong Water (’97). And in February he is slated to begin shooting another indie feature, Dandelions, a romantic comedy/coming-of-age story.

    Sears gravitated toward Green Dot based on its in-house sales force–which he finds attractive for directorial career development–the shop’s commercialmaking expertise, and the chance to diversify meaningfully into branded entertainment.

    Best known for his comedic storytelling spots, Sears has also taken on more dramatic fare, including a spot in which kids are seemingly engaged in combat, an intentional misdirection designed to promote Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six video game for boutique agency Ayzenberg in Pasadena, Calif.  Meanwhile in the humorous ad vein, Sears’ latest work includes a Progressive Insurance campaign for New York agency G Whiz, in which scenarios are played out that call for offbeat types of insurance (a policy protecting against undue embarrassment). The campaign’s premise is that if such insurance coverage existed, it would be provided by Progressive.

    Over the years, Sears has directed commercials for such clients as Nike, Sony PlayStation, Labatt’s Blue, Subway and Sprint. He comes aboard a Green Dot roster that consists of directors Marc Chiat, the team of Coppos/Lee (Mark Coppos and Virginia Lee), Thom Higgins, Jon Nowak, Michael Patterson, Luis Ruiz, Garry Sato and Brent Thomas.

    Alex Anderson is head of sales for Green Dot, with Darren Foldes handling the Midwest and West Coast markets. Rich Pring is the company’s head of production.

    Category:News



    Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?

    Monday, November 25, 2024

    Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.

    "When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.

    And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.

    "Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.

    No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."

    At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.

    After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More

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