Allen Zwerdling, the colorful co-founder and co-publisher of trade paper Back Stage–which started as a resource for actors, and diversified to become the leading publication chronicling TV commercial production (eventually spawning SHOOT)–died of natural causes on Jan. 12 at his home in Rosendale. He was 86.
In 1960, Zwerdling and Ira Eaker, who passed away in 2002, created Back Stage. Zwerdling served as editor and Eaker as advertising director. Enduring some growing pains, the paper evolved into being and continues to this day as a pre-eminent source for news and casting info serving the working performer in America,
As an actor in the Players Guild of Manhattan from 1936 to 1941, director of the CCNY Theatre Workshop while attending college, editor of a U.S. Army newspaper, and founder of the American Players of Switzerland, Zwerdling found the perfect fit for his talents in Back Stage.
Then when the TV commercial production industry began to expand in the 1960s, he and Eaker broadened Back Stage‘s coverage into that arena, giving it two prime entertainment market news beats. Back Stage opened a West Coast office in 1975 and eventually expanded its coverage to Chicago, New England, and Florida as TV commercial production began to grow in these areas.
In the early ’80s, with the understanding that Back Stage was now serving two distinctly different creative readerships, Zwerdling and Eaker decided to provide two papers in one, creating a theatre section that was inserted upside down in the center of the paper. In November of 1985, the co-publishers celebrated the paper’s silver anniversary with a black-tie gala in N.Y. attended by 1,400 business leaders and celebrities from all sectors of the entertainment industry. The event was a milestone in Zwerdling and Eaker’s careers.
A year later, in 1986, the publishing team sold Back Stage to Billboard Publications, thus ending a 26-year partnership. Zwerdling retired with his wife Shirley to their farm in upstate N.Y.
Later the commercial production component of Back Stage broke out on its own, establishing its standalone identity as SHOOT and is now published by entrepreneurial DCA Business Media. Roberta Griefer, publisher of SHOOT since September 1990 and DCA co-owner, recalled meeting Zwerdling in late 1990. “He gave me a hug and asked that I take good care of his baby,” said Griefer. “With eyes always pointed towards the future, with a respect for the past, this is something all of us at SHOOT work hard at every day.”
Zwerdling is survived by a daughter Sherry Zwerdling, of Key West, Fla., a daughter Jan Heyes of Topanga Canyon, Calif., a son Gary Zwerdling, also of Rosendale, NY, and a grandson Adam Heyes. Shirley, Allen’s wife of 62 years, passed away just four weeks prior to his death.
Because Allen Zwerdling was an avid tennis player as well as president of the New Paltz Tennis Club, the Zwerdling family suggests that donations for a bench to honor him at the club be sent to Camy Fischer, 173 Route 208, New Paltz, NY 12561.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More