Content creation/production company Bodega has added Emmy Award-winning creative director Haley Geffen to its New York office.
With a heavy focus on network branding and promotional projects, Geffen will help expand Bodega’s reach in content creation, building on its concept through production model. Geffen will continue her established collaborations with such networks as USA, ESPN, NBC and Discovery. In her extensive network experience, she has garnered numerous awards including four Emmys, an Addy Award and two Promax Awards. As a director, Geffen has helmed humor and action-driven spots for The Discovery Channel, Gatorade, TNT/NBA and Volkswagen as well as a humorous short video documenting the lovable Superbad nerd, “McLovin,” on his unconventional journey to the NBA All-Star game.
Geffen began her TV career at ESPN, where she spent nine years producing live programming for two of the network’s signature shows: SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight. During her tenure at ESPN, Geffen won two Emmys, and as a feature producer, interviewed and directed dozens of high-profile athletes such as Derek Jeter, LaDainian Tomlinson, LeBron James and celebrities Adam Sandler, Adam Levine and Matthew McConaughey.
In 2007, Geffen transitioned to Turner Sports, where she spent three years writing, producing and directing for the company’s Creative Services Sports Unit, an internal group responsible for TNT and TBS’s primetime NBA and MLB creative campaigns. Geffen earned recognition as one of the group’s directors for her work with Volkswagen, Gatorade and AVIS. Her most memorable directing experience involved the elaborate costuming of Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley for an integrated promotion with the 2010 summer blockbuster, The A-Team. Geffen earned two more Emmys and a pair of Promax Awards for her work on Inside the NBA and also received an “Outstanding Open” Emmy nomination for her individual work on the 2009 MLB postseason open.
In 2010, after a dozen years in sports television, Geffen transitioned to Discovery Communications’ internal creative agency, Discovery Creative. During her tenure, she was responsible for creating and executing launch campaigns for an array of Discovery networks including Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery and International. One of her biggest accomplishments involved the writing, directing and producing of TLC International’s launch commercial in Poland. She also earned an Addy Award for her Discovery Channel image campaign, “Born to Be Discovery.”
Upcoming work for Bodega, which also maintains an office in San Francisco, includes concepting Sunday Night Football for NBC Sports, Covert Affairs episodics for USA and concepting and creative directing a project in conjunction with Mr. Wonderful for ESPN’s Longhorn Network.
“Conclave” Takes Best Ensemble Honor At SAG Awards; Chalamet Wins Best Actor For “A Complete Unknown”
The papal thriller "Conclave" won best ensemble and Timothée Chalamet took best actor at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, a pair of twists that added a few final wrinkles to an unusually unpredictable awards season. In winning the guild's top award, Edward Berger's Vatican-set drama triumphed just as the Catholic Church was praying for the health of Pope Francis, who remained in critical condition Sunday after an asthmatic respiratory crisis. "Conclave" dramatizes the fictional election of a new pope. Earlier in the evening onstage, Isabella Rossellini shared the cast's best wishes for Pope Francis. All the momentum going into the SAG Awards was with Sean Baker's "Anora," which had won with the producers, directors and writers guilds. Now, with "Conclave" winning with the actors and at the BAFTAs, what will nab best picture in a week's time at the Academy Awards is, again, anyone's guess. "Wow," said "Conclave" star Ralph Fiennes taking the stage. "I've not been elected to speak. I've been designated to speak on behalf of our conclave, our ensemble." That wasn't the only surprise in the ceremony held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and streamed lived by Netflix. Chalamet's best actor win upset "The Brutalist" star Adrien Brody and put the 29-year-old on course to possibly win his first Academy Award. Chalamet looked visibly surprised when his name was announced at the ceremony. But once he reached the staged, the "A Complete Unknown" star spoke with composure and confidence. "The truth is, this was 5 ½ years of my life," said Chalamet. "I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero. It was the honor of a lifetime playing him." He then added: "The truth is, I'm really... Read More