GARTNER has added director Benjamin Lee Gordon to its roster, marking the first time he has been repesented in the U.S. for commercials. Gordon is an up-and-coming talent who has already made his mark in Europe, perhaps most notably with work for the Barcelona River Plate Fan Club and automotive client Seat.
Barcelona River Plate Fan Club’s “We Are Far Away, We Need To Shout Louder” campaign for Draftfcb, Barcelona, earned two Gold Caples Awards, a FIAP Award and was shortlisted at Cannes. The success of this project led to his landing Seat’s epic “Express Yourself” launch for the Ibiza ST model out of Barcelona agency Athletico International–a 50-spot multi-platform campaign spanning nine countries in Europe.
The Seat and River Plate fare was produced by The Cannonball and Sonda Productions, respectively–two production houses which continue to handle Gordon in Spain. He is also repped by Doctor Troy in Europe.
Gordon’s additional directing credits include commercials targeting audiences in Spain for Nike (“Dominoes”), Nokia (“Husband & Wife” and “Couples”), Brugal Rum (“Route 44”), Ford (“Priorities”) and for music app Shazam (“On the Beach” and “In the Park”). His short films include The Floorless, Naturaleza Muerta (Still Life), Lake Chinatown, Erhu, and La Bola Peluda (The Hairy Ball which won an Audience Award at the Malaga Fantastic Film Festival).
Gordon’s upbringing and education laid the foundation for his career as an international spot helmer. He was born in London to North American parents and raised in the countryside near the small town of Mijas, in Andalusia. Upon receiving a BA at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Gordon returned to southern Spain, where he worked his way up in the camera department in the region’s service industry. His directing style visibly stems from his multi-cultural background, with projects based on cultural, emotional and visual juxtapositions.
Gordon rounds out a GARTNER roster comprised of directors David Cornell, James Gartner, Marcel Langenegger, Mike Bigelow, Raymond Bark, Ted Melfi, and Shona Auerbach.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More