In looking over the field of directors in the 2010 Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase–and the quality of the many candidates from whom they were selected–Richard Myers, Saatchi’s creative director for global culture, observed that there’s been a coming of age within the ranks of aspiring filmmakers.
“We’re seeing signs of the ‘anyone-can-make-a-movie democracy’ beginning to evolve into something that is still vibrant but less naive, more competent and generally creative,” said Myers, who added that “a maturation is taking hold.”
In some respects, chimed in Tom Eslinger, Saatchi Worldwide’s digital creative director, this maturation parallels that of “the video channels where content and the way people are using those channels are getting more sophisticated. It’s like when HBO became the premium cable network in the U.S. Filmmakers started bringing their work there and helped to take the TV stigma away. More specialized channels are cropping up online, meaning that content is no longer just kids wiping out on skateboards and people scaring cats. You’re seeing movies being launched online, you’re seeing high def work. You’re seeing specialized channels emerging for directors and creatives. While YouTube has become more sophisticated, you’re at the same time seeing outlets like Aniboom and Motionographer, specialized communities of filmmakers in different disciplines, gaining momentum. With these kinds of outlets, it’s little wonder aspiring directors are creating more mature, inspiring and better executed content.”
So in the assessment of Myers and Eslinger, being the creme of the crop is even more of an accomplishment as the overall crop is maturing. This time around, 20 directors made the Showcase grade, a number that’s symmetrically appropriate given that this is the 20th annual Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase.
Though they were averse to singling out any directors from the Showcase, Myers and Eslinger, with some gentle prodding from SHOOT, discussed some of the talent in the field that resonated for them personally.
Myers cited director David Freymond’s Hold Your Horses’ music video “70 Million.” “You look at the way the classic paintings are recreated in this piece–every detail is great,” related Myers. “As a piece of filmmaking, it’s all there. At the same time, it isn’t so serious about itself that it forgets that it’s there to entertain.” The clip was produced via French house L’Ogre.
Among the other Showcase directors referenced by Myers were Patrick Jean of Paris shop onemoreprod and Eric Wareheim of Abso Lutely Productions, Los Angeles. The latter’s “We Are Water” video for the band HEALTH was described by Myers as “classic horror movie stuff” which at the end is “subject to interpretation. You can’t help but be drawn into the work. It’s very intense. This is a guy who definitely knows what to do with a camera.”
Jean’s Internet and festival circuit success, the film Pixels which was inspired by videogames he played during his childhood, was characterized by Myers as “a treat for the eyes. The effects are seamless.” The short has elicited interest from major Hollywood studios in terms of possibly adapting it into a feature film. Jean also has a stateside production house roost, the recently formed Mothership.
Eslinger pointed to Who-Fu (Masayoshi and Magico Nakamura) of Nexus Productions, London, for the Japanese band Sour music video “Hibi No Neiro” (“Tone of Everyday,” reflecting how a webcam behaves and how to cleverly use the limits of the technology to get the most effect. “It’s the kind of work that’s referenced by others, that strikes a chord and inspires other people’s work, much the same way that a piece by a Mark Romanek inspires other filmmakers.”
Myers added that he was very much engaged by Tropicana’s commercial “Artic Sun” directed by Samir Mallal of Radke Film Group, Toronto. “It was a stroke of genius to hire a documentary filmmaker (Discordia, Bombay Calling, Nollywood Babylon) to do this,” observed Myers. “Samir is comfortable with people and if you look at the people shots, the reactions are so real and natural.”
Stateside affiliations
Among the Showcase directors with stateside affiliations (in addition to Wareheim and Jean) were: AB/CD/CD (Arnaud Boutin, Camille Dauteuille, Clement Dozier) of Frenzy, Paris, and Paranoid US for the Lily Allen music video “Fuck You Very Much”; Angela+Ithyle (Angela Kohler, Ithyle Griffith) of Workhorse Media, Los Angeles, for their stop motion short Lost Things; Michael Langan of bicoastal Mekanism for his debut film Doxology, which garnered a Student Academy Award nomination; Saman Keshavarz of Mighty8, Beverly Hills (a shop in association with Paydirt, Beverly Hills), for Cinnamon Chaser’s music video “Luv Deluxe”; Jeremy Konner of bicoastal Partizan for his web series Drunk History; Joe Penna of Rhett & Link, West Hollywood, for the stop motion viral video “T-Shirt Wars” (the L.A.-based Penna recently directed his first national commercial for Coca-Cola and McDonald’s); and Carlao Busato and Marlon Klug who teamed on Coca-Cola Zero’s “Zero Gravity” via Brazil’s Corporacao Fantastica Films. Busato is repped throughout much of the world by Hungry Man and earlier this month had his comedic Liquifresh “Subtitles” spot gain inclusion in SHOOT‘s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery.
Across the Atlantic, the U.K. also had several Showcase helmers: Nez Khammal (a.k.a. Nez) of Colonel Blimp, London, for the “Halston” fashion video; Gal Shkedi, a Tel Aviv-based illustrator/animator/director who is handled by Partizan, London, and scored with his Tom Waits video “Belly of a Whale”; Ray Tintori, who’s from Brooklyn and also of Partizan, London, for his undergrad thesis film Death to the Tinman, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; and David Wilson of Blink Productions, London, for his Moray McLaren music clip “We Got Time.”
Also from the European theater is Hanna Maria Heidrich of Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, for the short film What’s Your Secret.
From South America is director Martin Jalfen who recently opened Lemuria, a design and animation studio in Buenos Aires. He was recognized in the Showcase for Silver Crocodile, which made a major splash at last year’s Sundance short films program.
Another short registering with Showcase judges was The Light of Life, a lyrical piece directed by Daihei Shibata of WOW Inc. in Tokyo.
And rounding out the Showcase roster is Singapore’s Serene Teh for her flip book animation-style piece Parkour Motion Reel.
The Saatchi Showcase directors’ work can be seen at a special YouTube Channel set up by Saatchi for the second consecutive year: www.youtube.com/nds.
Historic and contemporary
The 2008 Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase was dedicated to the memory of director Paul Arden who passed away earlier that year. Arden introduced the first ever Saatchi Showcase back in 1991 when he was executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi London. He later went on to a career as an accomplished director.
Fast forward to today and through the magic of technology, Arden presented this year’s Showcase alongside Myers–with both appearing on stage as holograms created by Musion and Square Zero.
The presentation made in Cannes on Thursday (6/24) was made as an homage to Arden as the Showcase celebrates its 20th year, and as an engaging spectacle underscoring the agency’s creative mantra, “Nothing is Impossible.”
Myers commented, “Paul Arden himself lived his life driven by the conviction that you can do anything, and being able to bring him back two years after he passed away to front the 20th Showcase is a pleasing demonstration of this philosophy in action.”
Eslinger said of the presentation, “Being creative with tech and tools like holography and stereoscopic screens moves sight, sound and motion beyond the 2D and opens the doors for ideas to not only live beyond TV and print, but beyond mobiles and PCs. Saatchi & Saatchi has been early in mobile and augmented reality and our learnings with Musion for the New Directors Showcase is another case of hands-on work that passes directly to our network and clients.”
Complementary competition
Also in the spirit of the “Nothing is Impossible” theme, Saatchi partnered with online virtual animation production community Aniboom in order to get work from young filmmakers in the animation/digital/mixed media mindset. Myers explained, “It started with a random thought I had that it would be great to find a director [in addition to the Showcase lineup] who was just about born when the Showcase began.”
This sparked the “Nothing is Impossible” contest/challenge whereby members of the Aniboom community were invited to submit their films (three minutes or less) that bring to life the idea of nothing being impossible. Dozens of film came in on a daily basis, with 20 finalists chosen on June 14. From this field, the Saatchi board chose a winner who will get the opportunity to work on a project with one of the agency’s 140 global network offices. The winning film is “I Lived On The Moon” by Yannic Puig. (More on this contest later in separate SHOOT coverage; to get an overview of the contest and see the finalists’ work, log onto www.aniboom.com/Competition/saatchi.
The “Nothing is Impossible” contest winner is separate from the Saatchi New Directors Showcase lineup of talent, yet adds another dimension to the proceedings. Eslinger noted, “As more bespoke online channels grow, we plan to partner and sponsor more competitions and events to help stir the waters and get new talent out in front quickly. We sponsor BUGvideo and found some very cool work there, and our competition with Aniboom debuted this year with the winner being given a project with Saatchi & Saatchi. With so many places for film to be distributed, having great partners who help find the cream of the crop makes the New Directors Showcase more exciting, grow and evolve.”
