Academy Award-nominated director Darren Aronofsky has partnered with a pair of spot industry veterans, executive producers Ted Robbins and Sandy Haddad, to open commercial production house CHROMISTA. The company has already embarked on projects with Ogilvy and DDB.
Aronofsky earned a Best Director Oscar nomination and was a DGA Award nominee on the strength of Black Swan, for which he won the top directing honor at the Independent Spirit Awards. His other critically acclaimed films include The Wrestler, The Fountain, Requiem For A Dream, and Pi, as well as notable commercials for The Meth Project, Yves St. Laurent and Revlon.
Rounding out the CHROMISTA directorial roster are Kasra Farahani, Daniel Portrait of Kamp Grizzly, Xavier Mairesse (shortlisted for the AICP Show this year), and Walter May. Aronofsky’s longtime features producer Scott Franklin will serve as an executive producer.
The new company’s moniker is inspired by Aronofsky’s love for science, and a play on the name of his feature production company Protozoa. Explained Haddad, “When it came time to name our company, CHROMISTA made sense as it’s in the same supergroup as a Protozoa. So I guess you could call us one big Super Group.”
With offices in Los Angeles and New York, CHROMISTA is also represented by ENID London in the UK and Amsterdam, meaning its directorial talent is globally available for traditional advertising and longer-form projects. Beyond doing high-level advertising, CHROMISTA will serve as a launching pad for up-and-coming directorial talent in the feature world.
EP Robbins’ resume includes line-producing for major industry players. Haddad served as executive producer for production house Wild Plum for five years, working with multiple directors on brands ranging from Ford to Miller Lite to Dial Soap. The two worked closely with Aronofsky on the director’s last two campaigns, solidifying a creative bond that has evolved into CHROMISTA. EP Franklin has worked with Aronofsky since 1998’s Pi, and is currently producing the epic Noah. Franklin’s decade-plus relationship with the director has served the two well, consistently producing well-received films and commercials.
CHROMISTA is represented by Shortlist on the West Coast, Monaghan Talent Rangers in the Midwest, and FM Artists on the East Coast.
Review: Drew Hancock Makes Feature Directorial Debut With “Companion”
"Iris, wake up!"
Early in "Companion," lovely Iris and her nerdy-nice boyfriend Josh are driving to a secluded lake house for a stay with friends. Iris wakes from a nap and lovingly tells Josh she was dreaming about him. They reminisce about how they first met at the supermarket. All those oranges tumbling onto the floor! Ha ha.
In 20 minutes, absolutely everything about this sweet scene will be turned on its head in a terrifying and sinister manner. You will be surprised and shocked. Unless you saw the trailer, which reveals the whole thing.
And so we begin with a dilemma, dear moviegoer. "Companion," an exceedingly clever and entertaining sci-fi-horror-thriller-comedy by Drew Hancock in his feature debut, has more twists and turns than a corkscrew. But it's utterly impossible to write about the film without revealing the first of those twists.
So if you like coming in totally cold to a movie, then we're sorry to see you go, but stop reading! Otherwise, stay with us — we promise there'll be more surprises to come.
Moving on: Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) arrive at the estate. A nervous Iris stops at the door, worried that Josh's friends won't like her. He urges her to simply brighten up and act happy.
Kat (Megan Suri), Josh's ex, greets them. She is gorgeous, and frosty to Iris. Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his handsome boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage) are nicer. Then there's Sergey (Rupert Friend), Kat's aloof Russian boyfriend — sugar daddy, really — and owner of the house. The password to his devices is Stalin's birthday, which tells you something.
Things get dark, quickly. The next morning, someone dies. They will not be the first — this is a horror movie. And suddenly Iris, caked in blood,... Read More