Tool of North America has signed director Hal Kirkland for commercials branded content and specialized innovation projects in the U.S.
Kirkland, who comes aboard Tool’s Innovation roster, is an internationally awarded director, creative director, writer and media artist who wields words, film and technology to create meaningful human stories and experiences. He has created content for brands including Coca-Cola, Vice, Google, Oculus/Samsung and MTV, and worked with agencies such as R/GA, Wieden+Kennedy, BBH and 180. On the production house side, prior to joining Tool, Kirkland was with Here Be Dragons and PRETTYBIRD.
Kirkland is at the forefront of exploring new story formats, both virtual and augmented reality as well as tinkering with emerging technologies to make even more immersive realities and branded experiences. His work has attracted over 60 international awards, including from the UK Music Video Awards; D&AD; Golds from the Clios, Cannes Lions and The One Show; multiple Grand Prix in 10 festivals; as well as 25 Best Music Video Awards from different awards shows. His work has been showcased in Rolling Stone, The New York Times and CNN, among others.
In Kirkland’s VR/360° music video for OneRepublic’s “Kids,” he choreographed over 100 people in a four-minute-single-take. His interactive music video for Led Zeppelin invited fans to step behind the facade of their legendary Physical Graffiti album so they could move between 17 music videos simultaneously. For his music video for the indie band “Sour,” he choreographed 80 fans from around the world via webcams to create a mesmerizing, globally-adopted visual style. The film became the most awarded music video in the world in 2010, toured in museums and best of all, was replicated scene for scene for numerous Japanese wedding videos.
As a media artist, Kirkland reimagined the context of entire exhibitions at New York’s Guggenheim and MoMA via interactive audio tours that introduced art to a whole new wave of pop-culture savvy audiences (Artobots Guggenheim + MoMA Unadulterated). He also co-created a life-sized paper guillotine that people actually lined up as part of a tour in Amsterdam, London and Switzerland.
“Hal is a creative force who holds no boundaries in his work,” said Dustin Callif, managing partner at Tool. “We are always looking for talent that have the expertise to re-invent how brands communicate with buzz-worthy creative. He is the perfect blend between innovation, creative strategy, and execution. His work is an example of what we are always striving towards at Tool, and Hal is a fantastic addition and inspiration to our team.”
Kirkland is enthused over joining the Tool team, noting, “We’ve been on each other’s radar for a while now, and I’m glad the planets have finally aligned so we could join forces. They live and breathe innovation, rather than just talk about it. As a multidisciplinary creator, I couldn’t be more excited about the things we’ll make together.”
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 XRโs 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 heโs 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.
Rossanoโs 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 companyโs creative talent network. Rossanoโs career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that companyโs 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