Aero Film has signed director Gary McKendry for exclusive commercial representation in the U.S. McKendry joins a directorial roster that includes Klaus Obermeyer, Ken Arlidge, James Mangold, Nelson McCormick, Jason Farrand, and the team of Klinko and Indrani.
McKendry, a native of Ireland and a former agency creative, is probably best known for his storytelling prowess in spots he has helmed for Porsche, Heineken, NASDAQ, Budweiser and DeBeers. He started his directing career in the U.S. with Go Film, later moving over to Partizan. Recently, McKendry has been active in some altruistic film projects, the latest being an emotionally moving spot for Barnardos, an Irish organization that gives support to at-risk children. McKendry is repped by Blinder in Ireland. The Barnardos PSA was done for Dublin agency The Hive.
Seeking spot work again in the States, McKendry met Aero executive producer Lance O’Connor, who happens to live in the same Southern California neighborhood as the director. McKendry said he was drawn to Aero by his affinity for O’Connor, and the company’s high caliber work spanning commercials and new media.
In turn O’Connor was attracted to McKendry’s filmmaking and storytelling, particularly his penchant for emotionally engaging work like the aforementioned PSA for Barnardos, which depicts the plight of a boy with an abusive father, a battered mother, and a brother who’s descended into a life of crime.
McKendry’s storytelling acumen garnered him an Academy Award nomination for best live action short film in 2005 on the strength of Everything This Country Must. Based on a tale in Everything In This Country Must: A Novella and Two Stories from author, and fellow Irishman, Colum McCann, the short is set in Northern Ireland in the late 1980s and centers on a man and his daughter trying to save their horse as it struggles in a river on a stormy night. At its core, it explores the human dynamics that exist when a nation is in a warlike state.
In the advertising arena, McKendry cited one of his strengths as “having worked as an art director and creative director” and thus being able to “understand everyone’s positions.” His alluded to agency experience includes working at New York agencies such as ChiatDayMojo (now TBWAChiatDay), Ogilvy & Mather and Margeotes|Fertita+Partners. At the latter, where he was a group creative director, McKendry began directing spots for agency clients such as AT&T and Crunch.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More