Brooklyn, NY-headquartered Pomp&Clout has signed L.A.-based director Najeeb Tarazi for U.S. commercial representation. Tarazi’s music video “Walk the Walk” for Gaz Coombes was an official selection for the 2019 SXSW Film Festival after being nominated for Best Alternative video at the UKMVA’s in 2018. Tarazi, who early on in his career was a technical artist at Pixar, has directed for brands like Girlfriend Collective, Revolve, and Everlane to offer a clean, refreshing perspective on contemporary fashion, while concurrently collaborating with artists like Nick Murphy, X Ambassadors and Delta Heavy to direct “White Flag,” a fantastical pixelated journey into space that has over 23 million views to date, earning a nomination in the UKMVA’s Best Dance Video category….
After 21 years, Amsterdam production house PostPanic has rebranded and reorganized its business. Under its new name, The Panics will focus on developing commercial and original content through its five sub-brands: The Panics for commercial content; The Panics Film for premium original content; House of Panic for cross-discipline collaborations; Post Panic, a specialized in-house design/CG/VFX studio; and Panic Room: a curated event for creatives. Founded by college friends, director Mischa Rozema and producer Jules Tervoort, PostPanic, now The Panics, has just ahead of its rebrand added four new directors to its commercials roster: Pavel Brenner, Josh Cole, Erik Wernquist and Tomek Suwalski. Additionally, The Panics Film is also currently working on its first non-scripted, independent documentary, Teenagers from Mars, a reckless and emotional portrait of youth living in the very American town of Mars, Pennsylvania, due to release summer 2020. Teenagers from Mars is a passion project directed by British born, NYC based photographer and filmmaker, Jamie-James Medina….
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