Director Jack Cole has signed with Chelsea for spot representation stateside, continuing a relationship that began when Chelsea maintained a strategic relationship with London-based integrated content production company Pulse. Per that arrangement entered into last year (SHOOTonline, 7/6/10), Chelsea handled the U.S. for Pulse’s directors, including Cole, under the banner Pulse @ Chelsea. However the affiliation between the two shops ended a couple of months ago. Cole, who is still on the Pulse roster in the U.K., ultimately decided he also wanted to stay with Chelsea in the U.S.
Via Chelsea, Cole recently made his U.S. spot directorial debut with comedy fare for Stride Gum out of JWT New York. “I had a great experience working with Chelsea shooting the last Stride spot,” said Cole. “When the offer to sign up to the ranks officially came along, it was a no-brainer. I’m really looking forward to working more in the States and hope I can offer something a little different by bringing this particular Englishman’s eye to the table.”
Tom Christmann, executive creative director at JWT, worked with Cole on Stride. “Jack can direct ostriches to run through walls. He can direct nineteen-year-old girls to wrestle rams. And yet he still hasn’t let those talents go to his head and is a pleasure to work with,” said Christmann.
Coming from a background in still photography, Cole began his directing career as one half of the duo Liff in which he was teamed with Stian Smestad who now also works as a solo director. Smestad is based in Norway. Liff’s work was nominated for the Newcomer Award at the Soho Rushes Shorts Festival, screened at the onedotzero Film Festival, and short-listed for the Nike Young Directors Award. Liff’s short films received international acclaim, most notably “Practice Makes Perfect”, nominated for the TCM Classic Shorts Award at the London Film Festival. Liff, which was repped by Independent, London, disbanded about two-and-a-half years ago. The duo’s European spot credits spanned such clients as Subaru, Converse, Europark, and Panasonic.
Cole, whose solo helming endeavors also include a European job for Reebok.com, was described by Chelsea co-owner Lisa Mehling as a rare filmmaking breed. “Visualist comedy directors are few and far between. Add in Jack’s still background and you have a very potent director.”
Cole joins a Chelsea directorial roster that includes Alex Gibney, Borgato & Berte, Bruce Hunt, Charles Mehling, Christopher Quinn, Colin O’Toole, David Gordon Green, Johan Kramer, Kevin Macdonald, Lauren Greenfield, Liz Von Hoene, Michael Muller, Nadav Kander, Neil Abramson, Nicholas Barker, Rick LeMoine, and Robb Bindler. Chelsea is owned and operated by Mehling and Allison Amon.
TikTok’s Fate Arrives At Supreme Court; Arguments Center On Free Speech and National Security
In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information.
TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok's sale by its Chinese parent company.
Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a "political resolution" and avoid deciding the case. It's unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect's views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.
TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution's free speech guarantee.
"Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people," lawyers for the users and content creators wrote. Content creators are anxiously awaiting a decision that could upend their livelihoods and are eyeing other platforms.
The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule about a medium with which the justices have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech.
The Biden administration, defending the law that President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress, contends that... Read More