Director Shaun Conrad has signed with Santa Monica-based Snug Films, the year-old shop founded by director Michael Grasso and under the day-to-day aegis of executive producer Fran Wall.
Best known for his fashion/design work, Conrad had most recently been at Tate USA, Santa Monica. Prior to that, he was with Backyard, Venice, Calif.
Conrad gravitated toward Snug based on his belief that the shop was well positioned to help him garner work in two prime areas–one being fashion/design, the other narrative storytelling which is reflected in his new documentary, Purvis of Overtown. He cited the company’s sales force and the fact that the shop has a small, manageable roster, which should translate into his getting the personal attention needed to generate the proper work opportunities.
The Snug directorial lineup consists of Grasso, Conrad and the recently signed Andreas Grassl, an established European director who is making his first formal foray stateside.
Shot with friend David Raccuglia, the aforementioned Purvis of Overton chronicles the life and observations of Purvis Young, a self-taught painter and icon of African-American culture and history. “Yes, I want to do more narrative storytelling along with the fashion/design work,” related Conrad. “I’m drawn to two very different but highly focused areas of spotmaking.”
Conrad grew up in Minnesota, then moved to Chicago to attend the University of Illinois. He soon met up with Backyard co-founder Roy Skillicorn, who got him some local Chicago market spot jobs for hair salon Vidal Sassoon. With enough commercials under his belt, Conrad soon joined Backyard’s directorial roster. Conrad has only high praise for the production company, now headquartered in Venice. “I learned a lot about directing, just being at the same company as [directors] Rob Pritts and Kevin Smith was a positive experience for me” related Conrad.
Three years later, in 2002, Conrad left Backyard and headed for the West Coast, where he linked up with Tate USA. He worked consistently in the fashion/design arena but then made a conscious decision–and adopted a strategy–to diversify.
“I intentionally took myself out of the loop with Purvis Of Overton,” he explained. What Conrad found during the documentary was a love of narrative storytelling. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime project, so I disappeared from the commercial scene for awhile.”
He returned to commercials last year. Conrad’s spot credits over the years include work for such clients as Kraft, Burger King, Fruit Gushers, Pillsbury, Mervyn’s, Earthlink, K-Swiss and Reebok.
Snug Films is represented on the East Coast by Arthur Portnoy, in the Midwest by Maureen Butler, and on the West Coast by Rachel Finn and Mary Saxon of Finn/Saxon Represents. Snug is repped in Canada by Maxx Film and in Germany by Wunderfilm.
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More