SHOOT’s seventh annual New Directors Showcase–which will be celebrated with an evening screening, panel discussion and reception next week (5/28) at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Theater in New York–offers a total of 38 up-and-coming helmers filling 32 slots (27 individual directors, four duos and one three-person team).
Click here to view the New Directors Search mini profiles.
The field of talent is far ranging from freelance newcomers to lauded agency creatives who have transitioned to filmmakers, to even a two-time Best Picture Academy Award nominee as a producer (for In The Bedroom and Lost In Translation).
The latter is Ross Katz who earned inclusion in the Showcase on the strength of his directorial debut, the acclaimed Taking Chance, which he also co-wrote. The prowess in storytelling reflected in the feature, which debuted recently on HBO, piqued commercial production house interest in Katz, including when it was screened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Mark Thomas and Ralph Winter, partners in Santa Monica-based house Thomas Winter Cooke (TWC), saw Taking Chance at the Sundance Fest and soon thereafter signed Katz for representation in commercials.
Creative pedigree The alluded to former agency creatives now in the director’s chair include such notables as Kim Gehrig and Kenny (previously known as Kenny Herzog).
Gehrig made her first major mark as a creative and creative director at Mother, London, where she spent eight years. In late 2008 she formally exited Mother to focus full time on directing and then secured her first “commercial,” a branding short for Amnesty International that put her on the map as a helmer in a major way. The poignant 90-second film, entitled You Are Powerful for Mother, London, is her featured piece in the 2009 SHOOT Showcase. It was first recognized in SHOOT ‘s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery.
Meanwhile Kenny had creative tenures at Ogilvy & Mather, New York, and Taxi N.Y. before freelancing for such shops as DDB Chicago, Toy, New York, and Brooklyn Brothers. He also got involved creatively at New York agency Nicebigbrain. He then joined bicoastal/international production house O Positive to formally launch his directing career.
Kenny got the chance to work client-direct creatively and with O Positive as a director on Boomerang GPS’ “Santa,” a comedy spot which is slated for Showcase screening.
And Showcase director Paul Iannacchino, Jr., of Creative Bubble, New York, got his start in commercials as part of the in-house agency for the National Football League. He garnered Showcase attention in large part due to his direction of the Head Apparel viral “Speed” (produced by Czar, Hamburg) for what is now agency A&S, Berlin. Iannacchino heads up Creative Bubble.
Indie spotmakers Eleven of the Showcase directors didn’t have a commercial production company affiliation at the time of their being selected by SHOOT. Since then, a solo director and a helming duo have found roosts as the Amsterdam team of Andre Maat and Henk Loorbach signed with Lost Highway Films, New York, for representation, and director Nick Jasenovec has joined the roster of bicoastal Nonfiction Unlimited, which specializes in handling documentary filmmakers for spots and branded content.
Maat and Loorbach scored Showcase recognition on the basis of their Cult TV spec Ids while Jasenovec will have the trailer of his film Paper Heart–which won a Sundance Screenwriting Award this year–screened for the SHOOT Showcase audience.
Directors in nine other Showcase slots remain in the market for spot production company homes.
They are: Ishay Karni Eckhaus (Volvo S60’s “Café” for McCann Erickson Israel, Tel Aviv); Gregg Casson (Climate Change’s “Moving Day” spec PSA); Aine Carey (Ishmael’s “Better In These Times” music video); Aaron Platt (The Glitterati’s “Keep Me Up All Night” music video); Shira-Lee Shalit (the short film Open Air); Shawn Zeytinoglu (whose Mini Cooper “Find Yourself” spec spot out of Taxi Canada has been bought by the client); Lapo Melzi (African-American Planning Commission’s “Paper Child”); Doug Purver (Omar and His Sky Hook short film); and Jesse Jacobs (Skittles’ “Mindbender” spec ad, which was recently recognized in our “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery).
Teamwork
Besides the aforementioned Maat and Loorbach, the other teams in the Showcase are: Fx & Mat of Nexus Productions, London (Royal Bank of Canada’s “Mr. Long Legs” for BBDO Toronto); Bif (Jules Janaud, Fabrice le Nezet, Francois Roisin) from The Mill, London (the short titled Dix); The Purchase Brothers (David & Ian) of bicoastal Anonymous Content as well as Canadian house Sons and Daughters (Half-Life video game spec short Escape From City 17); and The Hoffman Brothers (Mark and Matt) of Santa Monica-based harvest (Bud Light’s “Man Treats” spec spot).
Rest of lineup Rounding out the 2009 SHOOT New Directors Showcase are:
• Mitch Stratten of bicoastal/international Hungry Man for such work as Toshiba’s “Time Sculpture” out of Grey, London.
• Timothy Kendall of Rhythm+Hues Commercial Studios, Los Angeles, for Minnesota Tourism’s humorous “Office Boarding” (produced by Drive-Thru, Minneapolis) for Clarity Coverdale Fury, Minneapolis.
• Brandon Kraines of Stray Dog in Franklin, Tenn., for the spec viral “Hands-Free” (produced by Stereo Lab Films and United Front Films, both in Los Angeles).
• Sophie Caretta of Identity, New York, for a poignant Careerbuilder.com spec short.
• Alex Anderson from ONE at Optimus, Chicago, for the Optimus promo spot “Done.” This too first garnered attention in our “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery.
• Gonzalo “Gonzo” Llorente of Carbo Films, Santa Monica, for Movistar’s “Not For Me” out of agency Y2R in Buenos Aires.
• Jonathan Newman of Serendipity Films, London, for Ford Mustang/Filmaka’s branded content piece “Father’s Day” via JWT Team Detroit.
• Sam Macon of Radar Studios, Chicago, for AirTran Airways’ “Gamer” out of Cramer Krasselt, Chicago.
• Otis of bicoastal The Artists Company for the Brady Bill’s “Bullets.”
• Robin Hays of Radke Film Group, Toronto, for adidas’ “Sneakerhead” spec spot.
• Kevin Kerwin of Authentic Films, Cleveland, for Akron Children’s Hospital’s “Nick” out of Cleveland agency Marcus Thomas. This was part of an original campaign initially recognized in our “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery. The follow-up campaign is covered in a separate feature story in this week’s issue of SHOOT ..
• Jason Moore, who’s repped in the Midwest by Back Alley Films, Kansas City, Mo., for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Ryman” spec spot.
• And Mark Zibert of Sons and Daughters, Toronto, for Parkinson Society Canada’s “Struggle” from agency Taxi 2, Toronto.
Lead sponsors for the Showcase event are the DGA, harvest and ONE at Optimus. Silver sponsors are Kodak and Deluxe. For a full rundown of this year’s New Directors Showcase honorees, see our series of individual mini-profiles in this issue.
Click here to view the New Directors Search mini profiles.
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