Bill Reilly, owner and executive producer of the L.A.-based live action production company Space Program, has been named the new executive producer for commercials and advertising content at animation and mixed-media production house Curious Pictures, New York. Reilly will merge Space Program into Curious Pictures, bringing with him directors Zach Braff and Scott Duncan. Braff has already landed his first project at Curious, a comedy job for a Procter & Gamble brand that combines live action, visual effects and tabletop for Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.
Additionally, Curious is opening an office in Santa Monica, the first outside N.Y. in its 18 year history, and has named new representation for the East Coast. The new office will provide a base of operations for the studio’s growing involvement in feature film, TV programming and other entertainment projects, as well as service the work of its West Coast-based directors. Reilly will divide his time between the New York and Santa Monica offices of Curious. He takes charge of commercials and advertising content at Curious, a province previously headed by Mary Knox who served as managing director of commercials for the company before moving over to Red Car New York as its managing director (SHOOTonline, 3/16).
Jan Korbelin, managing partner of Curious, noted that the studio has steadily been adding live-action directors to its roster over the years and extending its production footprint to the West Coast in terms of advertising and entertainment. The hiring of Reilly, an experienced live action EP with a background in visual effects and animation, along with the new office in Santa Monica, furthers Curious’ growth in both regards.
As for the alluded to new East Coast representation, Curious has secured the services of independent firm Hello, Tomorrow, consisting of reps Michelle Stuart and Mary Eiff, who previously repped Space Program in the East.
“We’re continuing to lay the groundwork for the future of commercial content at Curious,” said Korbelin about Reilly’s signing. “As advertising is now incorporating so many new forms–everything from games to apps to long form–the signing of Bill is going to go a long way to ensuring our role as partners and producers for both agencies and brands.
Reilly sees joining Curious as way for him to offer a broader range of creative options and resources to his agency clients. “At Space Program, we were frequently asked to provide different kinds of deliverables that we didn’t have the capability of executing on our own,” he said. In his new post he’ll work closely with Camille Geier, Curious Picture’s head of production/exec producer, who’s joined the studio last year from the New York visual effects shop Rhino (now Gravity). She had previously worked with Reilly on numerous projects, handling visual effects on jobs shot by his Space Program directors.
Indeed, Reilly initially viewed Curious as a potential co-production partner for Space Program, but the more he learned about the studio, the more compelling he found the idea of joining in a full time capacity. “Being here gives me so many more things to talk about with agencies,” he explained.
The move brings Reilly back to his roots in visual effects–he got his start in the industry fresh out of UCLA’s film school with a job at Dream Quest Images, a visual effects studio in Simi Valley, Calif. He later worked at ILM (where Geier is also an alum) before teaming up with comedy director Mike Bigelow, his UCLA classmate, to launch Space Program after a stint together at now defunct Coppos Films. While Bigelow eventually moved on from Space Program, Reilly continued to build the company.
Curious is currently producing a network pilot and is working on various development projects for both advertising and entertainment. The workload has increasingly seen Curious’ producers and directors travelling to California for meetings and shoots, making the L.A. office a needed outpost to complement the work of its New York studio. That’s where the bulk of its staff of 150 producers, directors, animators, CG artists and other specialists are based, working out of a 30,000 square foot studio housing a shooting stage, a full CG department and motion capture capability.
DGA Feature Nominees: Audiard, Baker, Berger, Corbet and Mangold
The field of feature nominees for the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards spanning two categories is set. Nominated for the DGA honor for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 are: Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez, Sean Baker for Anora, Edward Berger for Conclave, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, and James Mangold for A Complete Unknown.
The DGA also revealed the nominees for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film. The first-time narrative feature directors are: Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine as Light, Megan Park for My Old Ass, RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys, Halfdan Ullman Tondel for Armand, and Sean Wang for Diddy.
“2024 has been a truly extraordinary year for storytelling--and today’s nominees have created audacious and unique films that expand the possibilities of cinematic excellence,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter. “I am thrilled to congratulate all our nominated directors for their brilliant work, which is visionary, inspirational and speaks to the depth of the human experience. To be chosen by one’s peers is the true marker of outstanding directorial achievement and what makes these nominations so very special.”
The winners will be announced at the 77th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, February 8.
Here’s a fuller rundown of the nominees in both DGA Award categories:
THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 (in alphabetical order):
JACQUES AUDIARD
Emilia Pérez
(Netflix)
SEAN... Read More