Executive Producer & Managing Partner
Rodeo Show
What trends, developments or issues would you point to thus far in 2022 as being most significant, perhaps carrying implications for the rest of this year and beyond?
The trend I have noticed so far in 2022 is the amount of work we are seeing come directly from clients. We still submit our work to agencies, and we have great relationships with agencies, but there is more work coming from clients and the creatives they have on staff. The big streaming companies have become their own agencies, and increasingly are having in-house creatives.
How have any societal issues–such as the pandemic, the Supreme court decision on abortion, calls for equity, inclusion, diversity, racial and social justice–impacted the way you do business, company policies and/or selection of projects/creative content?
I’m glad that every brief now asks for diversity! It’s about time that we are inclusive after having been pretty closed for so long. For myself, I have always been inclusive going back to my start in Chicago. My mentors and partners, Ellen and Jimmy Smyth, always tried to include talented people from all backgrounds.
What work (advertising, entertainment, documentary) — your own or others–struck a responsive chord with you this year and why?
I have been helping Laurence Thrush, a friend, and very talented director, on a collective documentary about prisoners on death row and their lives – before they are put to death. The hope is that the prisoners can interact with young people who are entering the system for the first time and that their life experiences can help to reduce violence in their communities. The artist Ai Weiwei has done a book about the work called “Buddhas on Death Row” that launched at LITLIT in LA in July.
Review: Director Nora Fingscheidt’s “The Outrun”
At some point during "The Outrun," it occurred to me that watching Saoirse Ronan act is a bit like looking into a magnifying glass: Everything somehow feels a bit clearer, sharper, more precise.
This singular actor gives one of her finest performances in a two-hour study of addiction that is poignant, sometimes beautiful but always painful to watch — and would likely be too draining if not for the luminous presence at its core. Would it even work — at all — if Ronan, who also makes her producing debut here, weren't onscreen virtually every second?
Luckily, we don't need to imagine that. Ronan, who plays a 29-year-old biology student named Rona (the name comes from a tiny island off Scotland) serves as both star and narrator, speaking the words — sometimes poetic — of the addiction memoir by Amy Liptrot. The script, adapted by Liptrot and director Nora Fingscheidt, makes frequent use of fantasy and whimsy, even veering into animation. Some may find these deviations a distraction from the plot, but they are frequently mesmerizing.
Besides, plot is a loosely defined thing here. We go back and forth in time so frequently that sometimes only the changing color of Rona's hair indicates where we are on the timeline. It takes a while to get used to this, but the uncertainty starts to make sense. We are, in a way, inside Rona's mind, experiencing the fits and starts of her journey. And recovery is hardly a linear process.
There's a fine supporting cast, but the true second star is nature itself. The film is based mainly in the Orkney Islands off Scotland, a windswept landscape that can be both punishing and restorative. It can also be stunning, especially the sea. And the sea is where we start, learning that Orkney lore holds that when... Read More