BRW FILMLAND Los Angeles has signed director Axel Laubscher for U.S. commercial representation. Coming to BRW from Hungry Man, the German-born director has helmed campaigns for international brands such as Volkswagen, E*Trade, PlayStation, Mercedes, Allstate, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. After earning a Film degree from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Laubscher settled down in Stockholm, Sweden, and launched commercial production company Social Club with fellow director Henrik Lagercrantz in 2002. Laubscher’s international commercial work has earned honors from Cannes Lions, D&AD, Epica, LIA and Eurobest. Recently, he worked on a project for BYGGMAKER that followed the company’s history in film from the 1890s to present day, based on a variety of archived footage. Rather than shooting on digital and attempting to recreate the film look of different eras in postproduction, he chose to film with the equipment of each era including crank-up cameras, 16mm, 35mm, reversal, positive and VHS….Integrated production company ACNE has signed international comedy director Nicolas Iyer. Iyer’s work also has some daring elements–his AICP Show-honored spot for Oxygene Perfume was filmed completely underwater, and his 2014 World Cup campaign for Samsung took him to the slums of Rio de Janeiro. His credits also span campaigns for such brands as Snickers, Sprite, Big Red, McDonald’s, Seat and Time Warner. Iyer began his career creating visual treatments for feature film directors including Martin Campbell, Pierre Morel, Vincent Ward, James McTeigue, and Marcus Nispel….The NY office of global creative agency Sid Lee has promoted Dan Brooks and Daniel Chandler to co-executive creative directors. Over the past five years, Brooks and Chandler have been one of Sid Lee’s most prominent creative teams. At present they are leading creative for Sid Lee NY’s clients including Absolut, Facebook and Intel….
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More