A female refugee sits on a couch openly discussing the atrocities she faced in her homeland as she now has moved to New Zealand. Sitting on the other end of the couch and listening intently is another woman whom we assume is a journalist or perhaps a counselor.
The camera then circles around to reveal that the other woman, her face battered and bruised, has too been abused, enduring the same domestic violence atrocities in her home country of New Zealand.
A supered message across the bottom of the screen reads, “Domestic violence is not a women’s issue. It’s a human rights issue.”
An end tag informs us that it’s Women’s Refuge Appeal Week in New Zealand, accompanied by contact info, including a toll-free phone number.
“Human Rights” was directed by Sam Holst of The Sweet Shop in Auckland for Saatchi & Saatchi, Wellington, N.Z. Holst was one of the helmers featured in this year’s SHOOT New Directors Showcase.
The Saatchi team included creative director Tim Hall, associate creative director Rodd Martin and producer Anna Kennedy.
Lynnette Gordon produced for The Sweet Shop. The DP was Ian McCarroll.
Editor was Tim Mauger of The Sweet Shop.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More