International production company Arts & Sciences has signed director Daniel Kleinman to its roster for representation in the U.S. One of the industry’s most awarded commercial directors, a pioneer of the modern music video, and designer of the iconic opening credit sequences for the James Bond film franchise, Kleinman will bring his years of expertise, invention, and superb craft to branded content and beyond at Arts & Sciences.
As a commercial director, Kleinman is famous for bringing humor, irreverence, and a dash of the macabre to his films, taking simple concepts to their often hilarious, always-affecting extremes. Some of his recent branded work includes campaigns for clients Accenture, Vodaphone, Pepsi and Budget Direct, and past clients include Smirnoff, Levi’s, Xbox, Johnnie Walker, Durex, Boddington’s, and Audi. Kleinman is based in the U.K. where his production company, Rattling Stick (co-founded in 1996 alongside Ringan Ledwidge and Johnnie Frankel), has been a commercial mainstay.
Kleinman has won innumerable accolades over his decades-long career, earning him the title of “Most Awarded Director in the World” by the Gunn Report. Among his honors is the President’s Award from Creative Circle, the Chairman’s Award at the British Arrows, awards from Cannes, D&AD, Clio, the New York One Show, the Midsummer Awards, and more. His 2005 Guinness commercial, “NoitulovE,” was the most-awarded campaign of its year. It is widely regarded as ranking among the best commercials ever made.
“The word icon and legend is thrown around too casually,” said Mal Ward, managing director and partner at Arts & Sciences. “But Danny Kleinman has earned both of those titles, he’s also an incredible collaborator and singular creative partner. Arts & Sciences is beyond thrilled to have Danny on board, and we look forward to supporting him on his next creative ventures.”
Raised in London, Kleinman attended Hornsey Art School and used his training in illustration to get his start in film, working as a storyboard artist at the dawn of the music video industry. Kleinman is a musician himself, having co-founded the proto-punk band Bazooka Joe which featured Adam Ant and headlined the Sex Pistols’ first show. Combining his musical experience with his storyboarding expertise, Kleinman directed his first music video in 1983 and went on to direct videos for scores of artists, not least among them Madonna, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Pat Benatar, Van Halen, Billie Eilish, and Prince. Kleinman was instrumental in developing the use of postproduction special effects in music videos, which has become a hallmark of the medium. He was a regular at the MTV Video Music Awards in the ‘80s with consistent nominations for Most Experimental Video and Best Direction, among other categories and award nominations.
“Arts & Sciences represents some of the most interesting talents in this industry,” said Kleinman. “I’m extremely pleased to be included among them and look forward to working with their fine crew in the U.S.!”
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More