Director Delaney Bishop and producer Isabel Reyes have launched creative production studio Bishop Takes Queen (BTQ). The new venture has already turned out a pair of ideation-through-execution assignments directed by Bishop and produced by Reyes: Saban Brands’ Robyn Hoodie, a new series starring world-class extreme martial artist Jesse Jane McParland (the kid-centric show combines action mystery with classroom comedy, cyber ninjas, and forest kung fu fighting); and Trinidad James Vignettes, a series of 20 comedic and hip hop shorts for Warner Brothers’ digital network, Stage 13.
Bishop and Reyes first came together eight years ago at mun2 Television, a bilingual division of NBC, influenced by early MTV. Bishop was an on-air promos producer, winning multiple awards for short form content, and Reyes produced an hour long daily show The mun2 Shift.
Bishop went on to establish himself as a director, turning out music videos for Marilyn Manson, Pete Yorn, Jurassic 5, and many others. His commercials and short form spots span clients such as TiVo, Chevy, M&M’s, and Saban. His short films have won awards at festivals around the globe and his first feature, suspense thriller Voyeur, is currently in post.
Reyes cast and produced over 30 episodes of LA Ink and helped launch mun2 on the West Coast. She helped develop a variety of shows for Rocket Science Laboratories, including Ink Master. Prior to the formation of BTQ, Reyes was the head casting director for a variety of companies including Rocket Science Laboratories, Original Media, Go90 and Playboy TV.
Bishop and Reyes embrace a “Cassavetes-style workflow,” something that evolved when they first connected. Their home is a studio–and, perhaps more significantly, their studio is a home. In some ways, BTQ is the formalization of a social circle, a group of artists that has gathered at Bishop and Reyes’ Highland Park compound over the years. It’s a tight-knit community that continues to evolve organically into an expanding network of colleagues and professionals, including friends and family as far back as elementary school. Thus BTQ can tap into varied talent on a non-exclusive basis, including DJ and filmmaker Lucas McFadden (aka Cut Chemist), producer Doron Ofir (Popular Productions), feature and TV writer Ron Osborn, social media creator Aristotle (Blake Webber) Georgeson, talent manager Caryl Fleemons (Incensed Media), EP Shahrook Oomer (Media Distribution Partners) and comic book artist Sina Grace.
Bishop noted that with the advent and evolution of social media platforms–from YouTube to IGTV–music videos and advertising have experienced rebirth and continued visibility. “There’s still lots of great talent making music videos, which remain a testing ground for concepts and techniques,” Bishop observed. “Unlike the days of MTV, there’s greater opportunity to cross-promote with the artist.” Amidst the clutter, Bishop believes, “the audience can discern creativity, spotting the quality work from the cookie-cutter stuff.”
In addition to writing, directing and producing, BTQ is equipped to supervise post workflows at any scale, across feature finishing, motion graphics, CGI, and audio.
Rounding out BTQ’s capabilities is its casting department. Via her LaBellatini Casting, Reyes has amassed 30+ credits as a casting director and has worked on narrative features and shorts, non scripted television, commercials, and music videos. Her credits include LA Ink, The Bachelor, Fear Factor, and Ru Paul Drag U. “A talent for casting not only influences projects at BTQ–it influences everything in my life,” said Reyes. “I have had the opportunity to talk to thousands of people over time. I am fascinated by personal life experiences and love learning about what makes us all tick. There is no shortage of people who want to share their stories so the least I can do is listen. Casting influences my work at BTQ, in that I want our projects to feel as genuine and real as the people I meet day-to-day.”
