Station Film has added director Sara Shelton to its roster for commercials. Known for performance-driven comedy, Shelton has a body of work which includes campaigns for Xfinity, Hormel, Manhattan Mini Storage, Sugar Mutts Rescue, Sprint and Country Time Lemonade–the last a winner of six Cannes Lions. She also recently directed the cold open to Luenell: Town Business on Netflix, executive produced by Dave Chappelle, and the original narrative short Teddy Bear (2022), a dramedy with a twist, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
“Sara’s work caught my attention for its strong storytelling and true-to-life comedy,” said Caroline Gibney, founding partner, Station Film. “Her writing background adds another layer to her strength as a storyteller. I think we need comedy in advertising more than ever these days, and Sara has a unique voice.”
Michelle Towse, partner/executive producer, Station Film, added, “Sara’s work hits all the right notes, it’s funny and grounded with great casting, performance and comedic timing. She came to meet with us for a coffee and we hit it off. She ended up staying for the afternoon. We are so excited to team up with her!”
Comedy has always been king for Shelton. “I don’t think I had a choice in the matter,” she said. “I’m addicted to laughing. I gravitate toward things that have an element of humor.”
After attending Miami Ad School, Shelton got her start in the business in New York on the agency side. She worked on staff for two years at Johannes Leonardo where she was the agency’s first writer when they opened their doors in 2007. After a two-year stint in Costa Rica surfing and freelancing, she returned to New York and spent three years as a writer at Droga5. Her experience on set piqued her interest in directing and after a couple independent projects behind the camera, it was Droga5 who called with her first commercial directing job for a Sprint commercial with Paul Marcarelli. It was a great experience, leading to ongoing work on the brand campaign, and Shelton never looked back.
“I’ve respected Station since I was on the agency side of this business, so I love their track record and ability to run their company and each and every production like a well-oiled machine,” Shelton said. “They are down to earth, with a passion for commercials. We instantly clicked and I knew I had found my people.”
Shelton–whose commercial representation had been most recently been via Ruckus Films prior to joining Station Film–finds inspiration in everything from the work of Zillennial comedy collective Rachel Sennott, Molly Gordon and Ayo Edebiri (Bottoms, Theater Camp) and Bo Burnham’s Netflix special, Inside, to John Mulaney’s live talk show Everybody’s in LA and Kareem Rahma’s viral series Subway Takes.
In between directing commercials, Shelton is prepping her next short film, based on the experience of a girl who wants her stylist to like her and gets talked into a new haircut.
James Earl Jones, Lauded Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies At 93
James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, "The Lion King" and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of "The Gin Game" having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
"The need to storytell has always been with us," he told The Associated Press then. "I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in "Field of Dreams," the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit "The Great White Hope," the writer Alex Haley in "Roots: The Next Generation" and a South African minister in "Cry, the Beloved Country."
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader ("No, I am your father," commonly misremembered as "Luke, I am your father"), as... Read More