Production house Twist has added director Igor Borghi to its roster for work in the American ad market. He was last represented by Boxer Films in the U.S.
Borghi comes aboard Twist just as his spot for online publication Parisian Gentleman–out of agency DLVBBDO, Milan–has debuted. The commercial opens on a woman in a bathtub. It’s clearly a personal moment. The camera is a voyeur as we continue to discover women in a variety of unadulterated scenarios. The connecting story element is the honesty and rawness of the moments–void of pretense. The moments were curated carefully and are deliberately excessive. The final scene unveils the tagline: “A world without gentlemen is a world without ladies.”
Italian-born Borghi was a teenager when he began training as a filmmaker. He secured a degree in international politics before attending the Italian National Film School in Rome. With that experience, he built an impressive resume as an AD for leading feature and commercial directors. This laid a foundation for his own directing work, which has met with acclaim. He was shortlisted at Cannes last year, and he recently won Best Film at the Key Awards for his Camomille Sognid’oro Tea spot. Borghi has collaborated with global agencies such as: DLVBBDO, DDB, Grey, Leo Burnett, McCann Erickson, and TBWA.
Twist EP Amyliz Pera noted, “Regardless of the genre, Igor likes to tell a story and takes a cerebral approach to the work. Even after watching a one-minute story, I can have a touch of good book-ending syndrome; a moment of quiet, of recognition, and a desire to watch it again. It’ll be fun to work with him.”
Residing in Italy, Borghi is with production house Generator in the UK market and freelances in Italy, and much of the rest of Europe.
Headed by exec producer/president Jim Geib and EP Pera, Twist maintains offices in NY and L.A. Borghi joins a Twist directorial roster which includes Rich Michell, Matt Pittroff, Scott Pitts, Marc André Debruyne, and the worldwide creative collective Tomato.
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