Amir Farhang, who’s best known for his work as a copywriter at BBH New York, Crispin Porter+Bogusky and 180 Los Angeles, has formally moved into the director’s chair, joining Hollywood-based Über Content for U.S. commercial representation.
Farhang has already made a directing splash with his series of humorous Bolthouse Farms/Baby Carrots spots in the continuing “Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food” campaign from Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Boulder, Colo. The Farhang-helmed commercials centered on the musings of an offbeat grocery store employee, who is at times paired with a fellow worker in various antics. The Baby Carrots package was produced by Prettybird. While the job was run through that production house, Farhang was not on its roster. Über Content is his first production house roost as a director after years of working on the agency side where he had a hand in creating noted work for clients such as Axe (Gamekillers), Vaseline (“Sea of Skin”) and adidas (Basketball is a Brotherhood).
Farhang also wrote and creative directed The Sony Rocket Project, a 22-minute documentary that aired earlier this month (10/8) on the Discovery Channel. The documentary grew out of a Sony campaign from 180 Los Angeles in which eight academically gifted high school students teamed with an aerospace expert in using Sony VAIO laptop computers to help design, build and launch a 29-foot tall, 1,100 pound rocket into the stratosphere. A Sony VAIO Z-series laptop with Intel Core i5 Processors was built into the inner chamber of the rocket to run key on-board functions while the VAIO F-Series 16.4″ screen, Intel Core i7 Processor with Turbo Boost served as mission control for the launch. Not only did the kids successfully propel the rocket into space, the project has attracted worldwide interest with some 30 high schools in the U.S. and around the world wanting to replicate the program. The campaign components, including a short film as well as the aforementioned documentary, were directed by Andrew Fried of @radical.media.
“I’ve been extremely lucky to have worked with some of the best agencies in the world,” said Farhang. “That moment when you go into production has always been the most exciting part of the job for me and the move into directing has always in the back of my mind. I am extremely grateful that the opportunity with Über came to fruition.”
Preston Lee, Über Content partner/executive producer, related, “Amir gets that the ‘idea is king’ as much or better than most people in advertising. His pedigree as a top creative is clearly impressive, but his drive to turn great ideas into great little films is what really excited us.”
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More