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.
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More