NEW YORK–David Turnley, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and documentary filmmaker, has signed with Curious Pictures for exclusive TV commercial and advertising content representation. His ad work includes commercials and campaigns for Brand Jordan via Wieden + Kennedy, State Farm via DDB, and the financial services company Ameriprise out of R/GA. Turnley was formerly repped for spots by Furlined.
As a photojournalist, Turnley won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the momentous political changes that shook the world in 1989, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the uprising at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. He’s been a runner-up for the Pulitzer four other times, and also won the World Press Picture of the Year award twice, the prestigious Robert Capa Award for Courage, and four Overseas Press Club Awards.
He’s been an eyewitness to many of the major news stories of the past 30 years, producing eight books out of these experiences, including his latest, Mandela: Struggle and Triumph. His first documentary film, The Dalai Lama: At Home in Exile, was produced by CNN and won the 2001 Cine Golden Eagle, while also being nominated for an Emmy. He was awarded Best Documentary at the Miami International Film Festival for La Tropical, which he shot in Cuba. He’s currently completing Shenandoah, USA, for which he won a Sundance Grant. Set in a coal-mining town in eastern Pennsylvania, the film tells the story of an incident in which six white star football players beat to death an illegal Mexican immigrant and examines the repercussions of the crime on the community.
“Curious Pictures is a very exciting place right now, given all the disciplines they’re working in, from features to TV shows to games,” said Turnley. “It’s an ever-evolving company, and I think their interest in someone like me is to help them continue to evolve in terms of what they can offer. So in some respects we share similar goals.”
Turnley sees his work in photojournalism as a form of storytelling. He said his method relies on a camera “to tell stories about human dignity,” and that he strives to convey these narratives in visually evocative and intimate ways. “It’s an approach inspired by the work of publications such as LIFE magazine,” he explained.
He’s also used to working in a streamlined, efficient manner that results in work he says can be disarmingly honest. “As someone who’s spent a lot of time in combat zones, I’ve worked on the edge quite a bit,” he said. “And that’s what I’m trying to do in the commercials arena. My goal is to create work that has a sense of honesty and intimacy while also reflecting a strong visual aesthetic.”
“David’s got a phenomenal eye and great professional courage, which serves his directing career well,” said Mary Knox, managing director of commercials for Curious Pictures. “Signing David adds a strong storyteller and documentarian to our growing live-action roster and adds another extremely smart thinker to our company.”
Turnley joins a Curious live-action roster that already includes such talents as Steve Chase, tabletop director Greg Ramsey, and fashion photographer/documentarian Douglas Keeve. Most recently, the studio signed director Michael Wiehart, a former creative director at Superfad.
TikTok’s Fate Arrives At Supreme Court; Arguments Center On Free Speech and National Security
In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information.
TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok's sale by its Chinese parent company.
Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a "political resolution" and avoid deciding the case. It's unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect's views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.
TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution's free speech guarantee.
"Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people," lawyers for the users and content creators wrote. Content creators are anxiously awaiting a decision that could upend their livelihoods and are eyeing other platforms.
The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule about a medium with which the justices have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech.
The Biden administration, defending the law that President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress, contends that... Read More