Curious Pictures has signed director Shyam Madiraju and his Mumbai, India-based content studio Gobsmack! for exclusive representation for TV commercials and other advertising assignments in North America.
In turn Gobsmack! will rep many Curious directors for ad projects in India. The move gives the New York-headquartered Curious its first base outside the U.S. and opens the door to assignments from agencies throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Madiraju first made his mark as an agency creative before moving into the director’s chair. He won the Kodak New Director of the Year Award at the 2006 Cannes Lions Festival, shortly after being included in SHOOT‘s New Directors Showcase that same year. At the time his roost was V3, which at the time was a division of Anonymous Content representing up-and-coming directors and specializing in alternative advertising and marketing forms. The V3 moniker was later dissolved and the operation was folded into Anonymous Content. In 2008, Madiraju moved on to Backyard.
Madiraju was introduced to Curious by one of its directors, Rohitash Rao, a former agency colleague at TBWA/Chiat Day who is also represented by Gobsmack! in India.
After meeting Curious exec producer Mary Knox and touring the studio, Madiraju related, “I was blown away by the experience. I had no idea they’ve produced so much original content and that they’re actively engaged in areas such as feature films, TV series, books, even games and toys. On top of that, they have all these tools at their disposal, from motion capture to CGI to animation and effects. It’s like being back in art school again, in that it allows for a kind of uninhibited creative tinkering. I found it very appealing.”
“This signing represents our future as a production company,” said Knox. “Shyam is a real thinker, who expresses himself as an outstanding filmmaker and content creator. His ideas employ many different forms of creative expression, including animation and graphic design.”
Madiraju got his start in the agency business in the U.S. at Lowe & Partners in the 1990s, then moved on to The Martin Agency, where he first worked in Richmond, Va., and then helped to open its L.A. office. After that he freelanced at a number of West Coast shops, among them Goodby Silverstein & Partners, TBWA/Chiat/Day and Saatchi & Saatchi, and also spent a year on staff at Ogilvy & Mather, where he headed up creative on its Cisco Systems account.
While there he collaborated with director Joe Pytka, whom Madiraju said played a key role in his transition to directing full time. “Joe inspired me and challenged me to be a filmmaker, which is something I had always dreamed about, going back to my art school days in India,” he explains. Upon learning that Madiraju wanted to direct, Pytka offered up a few choice words, along with his studio and equipment to help Madiraju shoot his first independent directing project, a series of subtly comic commercials for the L.A. Film Festival. Two of those spots, “Nocturnal” and “Checkout,” helped earn him a slot in the SHOOT New Directors Showcase.
Since then Madiraju’s work includes a series of branded content shorts for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel produced through Anonymous, as well as spots for brands such as Fox Sports, McDonald’s, Vicks and VW. He recently shot an ambitious campaign for Wieden + Kennedy launching the compact Chevy Cruze in India, which includes long-format TV spots as well as web videos.
The signing of Madiraju continues an effort to reimagine Curious Pictures as an entertainment and advertising production company that works across disciplines, genres and media platforms. The initiative is being driven by the studio’s new management team, Jan Korbelin and Marina Grasic. Both are veteran feature film producers (Crash and New York, I Love You) and management executives with broad-based experience in the television and entertainment industry.
Review: Director Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked”
It's the ultimate celebrity redemption tour, two decades in the making. In the annals of pop culture, few characters have undergone an image makeover quite like the Wicked Witch of the West.
Oh, she may have been vengeful and scary in "The Wizard of Oz." But something changed — like, REALLY changed — on the way from the yellow brick road to the Great White Way. Since 2003, crowds have packed nightly into "Wicked" at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre to cheer as the green-skinned, misunderstood Elphaba rises up on her broomstick to belt "Defying Gravity," that enduring girl-power anthem.
How many people have seen "Wicked"? Rudimentary math suggests more than 15 million on Broadway alone. And now we have "Wicked" the movie, director Jon M. Chu's lavish, faithful, impeccably crafted (and nearly three-hour) ode to this origin story of Elphaba and her (eventual) bestie — Glinda, the very good and very blonde. Welcome to Hollywood, ladies.
Before we get to what this movie does well (Those big numbers! Those costumes!), just a couple thornier issues to ponder. Will this "Wicked," powered by a soulful Cynthia Erivo (owner of one of the best singing voices on the planet) and a sprightly, comedic, hair-tossing Ariana Grande, turn even musical theater haters into lovers?
Tricky question. Some people just don't buy into the musical thing, and they should be allowed to live freely amongst us. But if people breaking into song delights rather than flummoxes you, if elaborate dance numbers in village squares and fantastical nightclubs and emerald-hued cities make perfect sense to you, and especially if you already love "Wicked," well then, you will likely love this film. If it feels like they made the best "Wicked" movie money could buy — well, it's... Read More