Bicoastal production company Durable Goods has added actor, director, writer, and producer Bob Balaban to its directorial roster for commercials and branded content in the U.S. market. Balaban returns to the director’s chair following a streak of film and TV roles including the Wes Anderson movie The French Dispatch and the Netflix series The Chair, co-starring Sandra Oh, The Politician co-starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and Condor co-starring William Hurt.
Balaban has directed dozens of commercials and branded content projects over the course of his career, including campaigns for Toyota, The Las Vegas Board of Tourism, L’Oreal, and Showtime. His commercial work includes a campaign for AMC and IFC that evolved into a standalone animated series called Hopeless Pictures, starring Michael McKean, Jennifer Coolidge, and Lisa Kudrow.
“Bob is the best director of talent I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with,” said Mike Brady, Durable Goods executive producer/managing partner. “His years of working as an actor himself have given him the insight and sensitivity for the performance he is looking for. I’ve watched him work with talent, and coach them to do the improv we need. It is truly a gift.”
“I’m really looking forward to creating commercials with Mike and the Durable Goods team,” said Balaban. “I love the precision and economy it takes to tell a great story in 60 seconds or less.”
Prior to signing with Durable Goods, Balaban was most recently handled in the ad arena by Brady’s former company, OnTheDay.
Behind the camera, Balaban is best known as the creator and producer of Gosford Park, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, and won a SAG Award and the British Academy Award for Best Picture.
He was nominated for two Emmys, a Golden Globe Award, and two Directors Guild Awards for directing the HBO movie Bernard and Doris (Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes) and the Lifetime movie Georgia O’Keefe (Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen).
As a frequent cast member of Wes Anderson films like Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel, and the classic improv works of Christopher Guest (Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show), Balaban has a penchant for comedy, drama and quirk that informs his work behind the camera.
Over the course of his career, Balaban has appeared in nearly 100 movies, working and learning under some of the best filmmakers of our time including Mike Nichols, Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg, Sidney Lumet, and Francois Truffaut. Balaban has appeared in four Oscar-nominated films for Best Picture along the way (Midnight Cowboy, Gosford Park, Prince of the City, and Capote). Seinfeld fans know him for his recurring role as the NBC TV exec Russell Dalrymple to whom Jerry and George famously pitched their “show about nothing.”
Segueing into television, Balaban collaborated with horror auteur George A. Romero, directing the pilot for the long-running series Tales From the Darkside. He went on to direct a host of TV work for HBO, Fox, Amazon, Showtime, NBC, and CBS, as well as several off-Broadway plays, one of which, The Exonerated, played more than 600 performances in New York City and was named The New York Times’ “Play of the Year.”
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More