Hornet has signed director Bennett Johnson for commercial representation across North America. The addition of Johnson to Hornet’s growing roster of live action and multidisciplinary directors underscores the talent-driven studio’s expansion beyond animation. Johnson’s tour de force music video “Hope Inside the Fire” for Foreign Fields made him the youngest winner of the Gold Cannes Lion for Music Video Craft. “Hope Inside the Fire” also scored him a win in the Emerging Director category at The One Club for Creativity’s One Screen Film Festival in 2017.
Johnson, an alumnus of SHOOT’s 2015 New Directors Showcase, is a London-born, Brooklyn-based helmer whose work spans brands like Nike, Spotify, USPS, GMC, Snapchat and Riot Games, as well as music videos for such artists as J. Cole, Brandy, Gallant and Foreign Fields. Prior to joining Hornet, Johnson had most recently been repped by production company HB Films.
Technically adept, Johnson draws upon a wide array of classic and future-facing filmmaking techniques to bolster foundational concepts, never allowing style to dominate the narrative or act as a substitute for an idea. His work is underpinned by a unique musicality, infused with layers of rhythm and movement–showing the influence of his brother (and sometimes collaborator), a choreographer and former dancer with the Dutch National Ballet.
Hornet executive producer Ben Sharpe said, “Bennett and I first met when his video for Foreign Fields won Gold at Cannes. I was taken (along with the Cannes jury) by how he was able to explore such a complex topic in an intimate way, all within the confines of a music video. Over the years I’ve watched the scale of his work expand, and his approach evolve in such a fascinating way. I love the lens Bennett puts on the world, and appreciate that he is a fellow student of world class advertising. As we wrap our first production together, I’m excited to be writing this new chapter together and officially welcome him to Hornet.”
