Production house atSwim has signed director Ben Tedesco for commercial and branded content representation in the U.S. and Europe. His storytelling prowess is featured in spots for Chevrolet, Dodge, Colorado Parks, and Hooters. Tedesco was included in SHOOT’s 2014 New Directors Showcase back when he was at Superlounge, his production roost prior to joining atSwim.
Tedesco now becomes part of an atSwim directorial roster that includes Alberto Accettulli, Shane Valdes, Nicolo Bravetta, Chris Groban and Diane Paragas at the company.
Tedesco points to two spec projects, “Spaceman” and “Farrier,” as having helped to jump start his directorial career. In the former piece for Chevrolet, a young boy fabricates a spaceship/go-kart out in his garage, until his dad interrupts the action by pulling in his new Volt model automobile. The work so impressed creatives at Chevy Direct that they awarded the director several more spots. Meanwhile the “Farrier” spec for Dodge features a friend of Tedeso who just happens to make his living traveling up and coast the California coast, blacksmithing horseshoes while taking breaks to surf some waves. It was largely on the strength of “Farrier” that Tedesco earned his aforementioned slot in the SHOOT Showcase three years ago.
“Ben is a really talented director who knows how to touch the heart,” said exec producer Michael Appel who heads atSwim along with EP Dave Schiavone.
Further showing Tedesco’s penchant for directing narrative is a simple music video for the band The Borrower’s Debt. The music video takes its viewers around Hollywood and into the lives of three people, who happen to be the band members. Connecting all three stories is a piece of string each follow during the video, until reunited on a rooftop to finish singing their song.
Tedesco was drawn to atSwim in part by his affinity for Appel. “Mike sees where I’m trying to go with my storytelling,” said the director who broke into the business as a freelance coordinator, then worked his way up to serve as production supervisor at such commercial production companies as Green Dot, RadicalMedia, MJZ and Radiant. Tedesco then successfully made the transition to directing as his spec fare initially opened doors for him.
As far as the doors maintained by atSwim, the company has offices in Los Angeles, New York, London and Prague.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More