Bicoastal production company ArtClass has signed director Shaun Collings for representation. He will focus on commercials, promos, and branded content for linear and digital platforms. Collings will also draw on his experience as a creative director to advise and build on the company’s postproduction capabilities.
A versatile director and creative director known for his design-driven storytelling, Collings has a body of work that encompasses projects for Under Armour, Acura, General Mills, Oculus, Nike, TaylorMade, and ESPN, the latter of which included the award-winning deepfake-style spot for the network’s The Last Dance documentary series, featuring sports broadcaster Kenny Mayne.
Collings freelanced with ArtClass prior to joining the company. In addition to his ESPN work with ArtClass during this time, he also served as director/creative director on the Philo rebrand campaign. His other freelance stops include Elastic, Prologue, and Motion Theory, where he directed and creative directed commercials, title sequences, and VFX work for Nike, Disney, and Apple.
“Shaun and I go way back, so it has been fun watching him grow into the director’s chair after having established himself as a sought-after creative director,” said ArtClass executive producer/partner Geno Imbriale. “His eye for design translates well to framing a live-action scene and finding those little details behind every great story. His deep understanding of the VFX and post process is also a huge asset as we are constantly looking for ways to elevate our pipeline and create more efficiently. He brings great passion in the process. I know because we’ve pulled off some impossible projects together.”
Collings added, “Geno has been a true friend and mentor who has helped shape my career as a director. He and [co-founder] Vincent Peone have built ArtClass into a forward-thinking company when it comes to content creation — one that’s finding new methods, bringing a diversity of voices and representation to the table.”
Collings got his start as a sr. designer/animator at Shilo. From there, he joined Elastic as a design director working on such projects as commercial campaigns for Nike Pro Combat and Verizon Droid, and the Tron: Legacy main titles. Collings then went on to Big Block as a director/creative director, where he built out the company’s design division, and helmed campaigns for the likes of Under Armour, ESPN, and Lexus. His work has garnered industry recognition, including an Emmy Award for Monday Night Football, and multiple Clio and Promax awards for ESPN rebrands, Fox’s Cosmos main titles, and an anthem film for Discovery’s Great American Country.
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