The Cavalry Productions has signed director Gregor Nicholas for exclusive commercial and digital content representation in the U.S. and most of Europe. The move reunites the filmmaker with former @radical.media collaborators, Cavalry COO Aric Ackerman and Guy Pechard, who represents The Cavalry as EP in Paris.
Nicholas began his career in New Zealand where he studied art history and architecture before venturing into more experimental film collaborations with musicians, performance artists, and choreographers. His anti-nuclear protest work Pacific 3-2-1-Zero earned him the Croisette d’Or Grand Prix at the Cannes Music Film Awards and has been incorporated into the Permanent Film Collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Nicholas’ body of work includes the acclaimed short film Avondale Dogs as well as campaigns for such brands as Nike, Heineken, Gatorade, Volkswagen and BMW. Over the years his projects have garnered Cannes Lions and New Zealand’s Gold Axis awards.
The director’s recent fare shows off his prowess for evoking powerful and compelling performances from both actors and real people. Inspired by recent trophy-hunting incidents in Africa, Nicholas wrote and directed a poignant five-minute short titled, Chloe Speaks. In the film, an outraged young French woman explains straight to camera how African lions are tracked, killed, skinned and beheaded by trophy hunters. Sadness shifts to shock, however, as the film pivots in an unsettling manner.
On the lighter side, Nicholas also helmed DJ Speaks, a film in which the director turns a real person into a movie critic who gives us his take on a gem of a feature that’s so engaging that it sneaks up and “gets under your skin.” Describing the main character in that movie–the sci-fi thriller Under The Skin–portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, DJ tells us, “nothin’ predictable is gonna happen,” and that is more than true of this compelling short when a waitress arrives at DJ’s table to serve coffee.
Prior to joining The Cavalry, Nicholas was most recently represented by production house Durable Goods. He continues to be handled in New Zealand by production company Flying Fish.
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