Welcome to SHOOT’s fall edition Directors Series, featuring helmers who have helped to shape advertising in traditional as well as less conventional forms, a look at promising new directorial talent, and conversations with noteworthy cinematographers about their groundbreaking work and new chapters in their careers.
In our lineup of directors, some share common bonds such as recent Emmy recognition–a primetime commercial Emmy nomination for Sprint Nextel’s “Wedding,” which was directed by Jim Jenkins of O Positive, and an Emmy win for the opening title sequence of the Showtime series United States of Tara directed by Jamie Caliri of DUCK.
Similarly we have two directors whose recent feature films–The Hurt Locker, and The Boys Are Back, respectively–have been much acclaimed and who have made their mark in commercials: Kathryn Bigelow who recently signed with RSA, and Scott Hicks of Independent Media.
There are also directors whose work has benefited from an amazing online dynamic: Partizan‘s Michael Gracey for his Evian “Dancing Babies” phenomenon, and The Malloys of HSI for their heralded “Oasis Dig Out Your Soul In The Streets” mini-documentary.
This is just a smattering of the talent that’s showcased in this special edition. Meanwhile our lineup of up-and-coming directors includes a pair of duos, a Finnish helmer starting out in the U.S., a prolific funnyordie.com director who’s transitioning into broadcast spots, an agency producer turned director, and a visual effects artisan who has made his first foray as a director.
And then in our Cinematographers Series, we meet four DPs whose work ranges from seminal music videos to an honored online documentary to major features and lauded commercials. Plus, there’s a fair share of HD camera experience and experimentation represented in the mix of DPs.
So read on and enjoy. As always, we very much welcome your feedback.
Click on Director’s name for feature: Laura Belsey, Kathryn Bigelow, Jamie Caliri, Michael Gracey, Scott Hicks, Mr. Hide, Jim Jenkins, The Malloys, Steve Miller, Peter Nydrle
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