Director Daniel Sheppard has come aboard the roster of production house Backyard for U.S. commercial representation. Based in Long Beach, Calif., Sheppard continues to helm spots for the Canadian market via Toronto-based Partners Film.
Sheppard’s credits include comedy spots for such brands as Wendy’s, Advil, GMC, Walmart, Classico, Microsoft, Sprint, Canadian Tire, and Tim Hortons. Sheppard is also the creative mastermind behind the satirical spin-off of the Cannes Lions: “The Dannes Lions.” Despite the lack of rosé and yacht parties, The Dannes Lions have racked up spot submissions from many top ad agencies, gaining industry media attention for acknowledging stellar comedy work.
Sheppard accidentally wandered into the advertising world as an agency producer in Nebraska. He kept himself sane during the endless winters by wearing multiple hats as a writer, editor, director and producer. He later stepped into the commercial directing limelight when he won a national ad creation competition for Chipotle that garnered millions of views online, was among the top 20 most viewed videos on YouTube in 2009, and proved that there is true value in a love for burritos. The success of the video did not lead to free guacamole, but it did lead to Chipotle funding a scholarship for creative excellence in his recognition at his alma mater.
Prior to joining Backyard, Sheppard was handled in the U.S. by Superlounge.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More