JOJX has added director Alicia MacDonald to its roster, marking her first representation in the U.S. Known for her naturalistic style of directing comedy, MacDonald has a body of work which spans television, commercials, short film, and sketches, and she has frequently collaborated with globally recognized brands and popular streaming networks.
MacDonald began her career as a director’s assistant to Mike Leigh and Kevin MacDonald (no relation). She first garnered recognition for her short film comedies which circulated at numerous short film festivals. She has since gone on to direct TV comedies including Flack on Amazon Prime, Pure for HBO Max and Netflix, and most recently, the second season of The Outlaws for BBC and Amazon Prime.
MacDonald has also directed commercials for brands such as Comic Relief, McDonald’s, Google Nest, Jaguar, AXA, and Nescafé. Earlier this year, her spot “The Uncomfortable Truth” for Durex won Silver at the British Arrows. In 2018, she received Gold at the YDA’s and NDA’s at Cannes Lions for her short film “Bad News,” as well as Best New Director at Kinsale Sharks.
MacDonald said, “I feel really aligned creatively with the JOJX family. Everyone on the team is so smart, fun, and they produce such brilliant, thought-provoking and playful work. It’s inspiring and I can’t wait to get started working with them.”
“Alicia’s energy and humor are a joy to work with,” said Jackson Morton, founder of JOJX. “Her sharp comedic instincts are a part of who she is and so they naturally show up in the films she creates, also in real life; she’s truly a fantastic human and we can’t wait to continue the laughter together while creating some stunning work”
In the U.K., MacDonald is represented for commercials by Missing Link Films, a London-based production company known for championing female and diverse directors; and by Independent Talent for film and TV.
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