Gifted Youth, the commercial production arm of Funny Or Die, has added director/writer/producer Alice Mathias to its roster for commercials. Having already made her mark in television and web, the multi-hyphenate Mathias recently made her foray into commercials. Most recently, she was hired by Wieden+Kennedy to direct the “Red Zone” tie-in campaign for Secret Deodorant and the NFL leading up to the 2017 Super Bowl. While Mathias has directed, produced, and written brand-direct content for the likes of Amazon, Dos Equis, Hangar 1, Jose Cuervo and Captain Morgan, the signing to Gifted Youth marks her first time being officially represented as a director for commercial work.
Mathias studied film at Dartmouth College and earned her MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, where she was the recipient of The Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Award and The Subway Fresh Artists Award. After college, she joined IFC’s Portlandia in its first season as an intern before working her way up to become co-executive producer, and an occasional director. This led Mathias to be nominated for three Emmys as a producer on Portlandia, as well as two seasons of Documentary Now! Mathias has written and directed various projects with frequent collaborator Fred Armisen including Paul Simon at the NY Auto Show, Portlandia Presents: Talkative Driver, and the web series The Dominizuelan Consulate for Broadway Video’s Hispanic content division Más Mejor. Recently she also directed the pilot for Comedy Central’s digital series This Week in Betsy, hosted by Jo Firestone.
Dal Wolf, Gifted Youth’s managing director/executive producer, first became aware of Mathias from her Red Zone spots, and immediately knew he wanted to bring her talents further into the advertising world, saying: “It’s a really great fit, she’s exactly what Gifted Youth is: Each director we work with is a different shade on the comedy spectrum.”
Wolf added: “It’s very apparent, by looking at her work, that Alice knows how to tell a story with comedy that is not only smart but also ‘ha-ha funny’ without over-complicating it.”
Mathias said of her new ad roost, “This company has been making me laugh for years. I couldn’t be more excited to start contributing to their exceptional body of work.”
