Biscuit Filmworks has brought commercial director Damien Shatford aboard its roster for U.S. and U.K. representation.
Rupert Reynolds-Maclean, managing director at Biscuit Filmworks U.K., said of Shatford, “His comic timing and instincts towards storytelling and directing are second to none. His work always feels fresh while having a polished familiarity to it that I think clients and agencies in this part of the world will love. I can’t wait for us to start working together.”
Shawn Lacy, co-founder, Biscuit Filmworks, said, “We love Damien’s distinct filmmaking voice and couldn’t be more excited to work with him at Biscuit. His ability to execute each project brilliantly, with such hilarious results, will serve him well in the U.S. market.”
Hailing from Christchurch, New Zealand, Shatford dropped out of school early and started working in kitchens. While sweating his way from dish-boy to sous-chef, he was making music videos for his band which led to making music videos for other bands. And by the age of 20, he threw in the dishtowel to study film at The New Zealand Broadcasting School.
Shatford’s recent spot for Macpac, “Weather Anything,” out of The Monkeys Melbourne featured actors hanging precariously from the side of a very real mountain. He masterfully subverted a cinematic trope with a deadpan Kiwi delivery and made one cliffhanger of an ad. Other notable client work includes Uber Eats, Toyota, TVNZ+, and Chorus.
His award-winning campaigns like the ridiculously funny R&B love ballad, “I’m Drinking It for You,” for New Zealand brewer DB Export, and his zombie-romp for L&P soda, set to Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do,” showcase his eye for great casting. Shatford has garnered many industry accolades, including Cannes Lions, D&AD Pencils, Clios and Webbys.
Shatford had previously been repped in the U.S. and U.K. by Sweetshop, which continues to handle him in the Southern Hemisphere.
“I love collaborating with clever humans. Whether it’s funny creatives trying to push boundaries, smart clients who give us their trust, or actors and crew that want to make their best work. I’m inspired by what’s possible when the right team has been assembled–much like the 1998 film, Armageddon,” said Damien. “I’ve been a Biscuit fanboy for over a decade. They’re very clever humans and I can’t wait to see what happens next!”
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More