Arts & Sciences has brought director Ehsan aboard its roster for U.S. representation spanning commercials, branded content and music videos.
The mono-monikered Ehsan (who earlier in his career was known as Ehsan Bhatti) had previously been repped by m ss ng pieces in the American advertising market. He is currently handled by Friend in the U.K., Spy Films in Canada, Quad in France, Grayskull.tv in Spain, Represent in Germany, and Ransom Films in India.
Ehsan, who grew up in North London, shared, “I love the idea of telling stories through a subversive lens. Making someone smile for me is the most powerful way of spreading a message. A little surreal and sometimes plain silly it’s the magic in the everyday that my work aims to capture. Tapping into my own lived experiences, I want to breakdown boundaries without the preach, taking ownership of the narrative, dispelling stereotypes without ever taking it all too seriously.”
A devotee of creating imagery since he first slung his father’s battered Nikon-FM camera over his shoulder, Ehsan became initially obsessed with cinema upon discovering Sergei Eisenstein and Soviet montage films, inspired by the notion of filmmaking’s enormous influence on our worldview. After earning degrees in architecture and graphic design, Ehsan launched his film career off the back of DJ’ing to self-finance his early shorts.
His first commercial projects were fashion-oriented, for clients including Louis Vuitton and Burberry, then quickly evolved to include a diverse range of prominent brands including Nike, Google, Samsung, and the NFL.
Ehsan said, “For me filmmaking is the most far-reaching platform for shedding light on the faceless and the voiceless; for untold tales to be shared. Beyond my creative role as a director I want to ensure I’m also creating opportunities, opening doors whilst opening minds.” So naturally Ehsan uses filmmaking as a platform to reinvest back into the communities he’s involved in as a diversity activist.
A self-described “petrol head,” Ehsan has also directed highly visual campaigns for BMW, Porsche, Jaguar, and Lexus. The spots he directed for Vertu and Adidas both won Cannes Lions. Ehsan has also won two Kinsale Shark Awards and two Creative Circle Awards for his directing skills in advertising. Additionally, Ehsan has shot a documentary in Ethiopia for the BBC, 25 Years After Live Aid.
Mal Ward, Arts & Sciences’ managing director and partner, commented, “The second you meet Ehsan you feel the energy, passion and wholly original vision that is just shining off of him.”
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More