Kevin Berlandi, known for his assistant director work on feature films such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and The Bourne Legacy, has signed on with bicoastal The Cavalry Productions for commercial/digital work. Berlandi is not a newcomer to the ad arena, having previously helmed spots for brands such as Toyota, Burger King, Taylormade and Audi.
Berlandi’s career has revolved around advertising. Born in South Korea but raised outside of Boston, Berlandi majored in marketing and advertising at Emerson College, garnering one of his first jobs as market and project manager at nearby Boston Acoustics. His interest in film was stirred watching an HBO “Behind the Scenes” documentary of the Rob Reiner film Stand By Me. As Berlandi puts it, he became “fascinated by the craft of filmmaking.” Soon thereafter he moved to Los Angeles to begin working various film apprenticeships, what he refers to as “the Roger Corman school of filmmaking.” In the process, he worked as a production assistant to directors Rob Reiner (The Bucket List), Michael Bay (Transformers), Gore Verbinski (Pirates Of The Caribbean II and III) and Doug Liman (Mr. & Mrs. Smith).
Berlandi eventually relocated full time to Los Angeles to work as assistant director on several blockbuster films, most notably Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and The Bourne Legacy. He considers collaborating with director Michael Bay on each of the Transformers films one of his greatest undertakings. “Michael has called me back for each new sequel,” said Berlandi. “I’ve learned a lot from him and others about directing and executing creatively.”
Two years ago Berlandi began to direct and produce spots working out of Los Angeles-based PITCH. While there he directed commercials for Burger King (both domestic and international), Maaco and Meineke in addition to Audi, Mattel, Hasbro, Taylormade and Toyota. With Audi North America Berlandi was able to elevate a simple tech talk with Audiwerks three time Le Mans-winning driver Emmanuelle Pirro into a week-long social media event. Recently, Berlandi was tapped to work on a special social media campaign for Toyota (Saatchi & Saatchi’s Conill). Titled, “Lollapalooza to Outside Lands,” the work chronicled the various road adventures of Grammy-winning Mexican singer-songwriter and actress Ximena Sarinana driving her Toyota to various concerts.
The Cavalry Productions is headed by executive producer Ross Grogan.
