Director Matt Ogens has joined bicoastal production studio m ss ng p eces for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. Known for his evocative visual storytelling across a variety of media including documentary, narrative, commercials, and branded content, Ogens was previously handled in the ad arena by Bullitt.
Ogens’ breakthrough documentary Confessions of a Superhero premiered at SXSW to critical acclaim, and he subsequently went on to earn a primetime Emmy Award for his ESPN 30 for 30 piece, From Harlem With Love about the famed basketball Globetrotters. Recent projects include the two-time Sports Emmy-nominated documentary series Why We Fight, which Ogens created and executive produced, the News & Documentary Emmy-nominated La Louvre, an augmented reality film for RYOT and Huffington Post, and two films for the UFC 25 Years In Short series which was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award and won a Clio. His feature film Home + Away, which follows high school athletes living on the U.S./Mexico border, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. His forthcoming Netflix original documentary Audible follows students at the Maryland School for the Deaf as they face the pressures of senior year and grapple with the realities of venturing off into the hearing world; it premieres on July 1.
Ogens has also collaborated with leading ad agencies and brands to helm major award-winning work, including the Verizon Super Bowl campaign “The Team Who Wouldn’t Be Here,” which earned three Cannes Lions, four Clio Awards, a Webby Award, and a One Show Award. Additional brands include Ford, Under Armour, Land Rover, Visa, Toyota, IBM, FIFA World Cup, McDonald’s, NASCAR and Ancestry.com.
“I’ve known Matt for several years and am thrilled for our paths to be crossing again. He brings a clarity of vision and an ability to uncover powerful personal stories that are truly special,” said Brian Latt, managing partner, m ss ng p eces.
“I’m so grateful to be reuniting with Brian and working with the rest of the team here at m ss ng p eces,” shared Ogens. “The company is constantly pushing the boundaries of storytelling and working with brands in new and exciting ways, which is so energizing to me and shows a real alignment of our goals.”
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More