Former Smuggler producer Jeff Miller, who spent the last year as executive producer at The Cartel, has launched Interrogate, a production house that opens with the Snorri Bros. on its directorial roster. In addition to the Snorris, whom Miller had worked with at Smuggler and The Cartel, Interrogate will also represent several directors from the U.K. roster of Outsider, including James Rouse, Bart Timmer and Jörn Threlfall.
The new venture will work across all genres and disciplines, spanning TV commercials, longer format branded content, music videos and films. Interrogate has offices in L.A. and New York, as well as a presence in London via its affiliation with Outsider.
The Snorris are childhood friends from Iceland whose work spans such brands as Palm, Motorola, Dell, Cadillac and Starz, and agencies that include Anomaly, Modernista!, Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners, and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.
As for the coterie of Outsider talent handled by Interrogate, Timmer has just broken a follow up to his Heineken “Housewarming” spot with a new effort for the brand, titled “Men with Talent.” And Threlfall has a new Kia spot, titled “Home,” out from David & Goliath in L.A., that adds to a lengthy list of automotive clients that includes BMW, Audi, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota and Saab. Rouse’s directorial debut, a web campaign for Trojan condoms in which carnal gymnastics take on Olympian proportions, helped him earn inclusion into both the SHOOT and Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcases in 2004. This marked the first of assorted viral successes for Rouse who has gone on to score with TV efforts such as the joyous Discovery Channel “Boom Dee Ya Da” anthem, the witty Nike U.K. football spot “Turning Spanish” and Kia Motors’ inspired Flashdance takeoff. The latter came out of David & Goliath while the Discovery Channel promo and the Nike U.K. ad both were created by agency 72andSunny.
Miller came up through the ranks as a line producer, where he collaborated closely with directors, exec producers, agency producers and clients. In his nearly 15 years in the industry, he has produced hundreds of TV commercials for clients across the spectrum, shooting not only all over the U.S. but around the world.
Miller got his start in the industry working as an actor. He eventually began writing for the screen, and sold a screenplay to Disney before starting to produce independent features. This led, in turn, to working in music videos and then commercials, where he produced his first job for director Samuel Bayer. Miller then hooked up with Traktor, the groundbreaking directorial collective, and spent several years producing for them before landing at a start-up company called Smuggler in 2002. After leaving Smuggler in ’09 he joined Dektor Film as executive producer, where he helped rebrand the company as The Cartel. He left that shop to open Interrogate as owner/exec producer.
Representing Interrogate are Kent Eby and Katy Dickson of Eby Dickson on the East Coast, Marguerite Juliusson of Marguerite Juliusson & Co. in the Midwest, and Rebecca Reber and Brooke Covington of Reber Covington on the West Coast.
Beyoncé’s Halftime Show Highlighted Netflix’s NFL Debut On Xmas Day
Beyoncé provided more excitement than either game during Netflix's NFL debut on Christmas Day.
Riding into her halftime appearance on a white horse, the 32-time Grammy winner rocked her hometown Houston crowd with a nearly 13-minute performance on Wednesday.
She surprised fans by bringing along Shaboozey to perform "Sweet Honey Buckiin" and Post Malone joined her for "Levii's Jeans."
The action on the field didn't live up to expectations as the NFL showcased four of the AFC's top five teams.
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce exposed a glitch in Pittsburgh's defense during Kansas City's 29-10 rout in the first game.
The broadcast itself went off just fine, quickly becoming the second-most popular live title on Netflix to date, according to NFL Media.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens led C.J. Stroud and the Texans to 17-2 at halftime before Beyoncé stole the show.
Mariah Carey opened Wednesday's doubleheader with a taped performance of "All I Want for Christmas is You" and then the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs trounced the Steelers to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
There were no signs of any major streaming issues during the game after Netflix experienced minor blunders at the start of the pregame show. The broadcast opened with roughly 10 seconds of silence because it appeared studio host Kay Adams' microphone wasn't turned on.
Beyoncé's live performance at NRG Stadium was supposed to be the biggest test for the streaming giant and it seemed to go off without a hitch.
Mahomes threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns and Kelce had eight catches for 84 yards and one score as the Chiefs (15-1) earned a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The... Read More