Director Greg Bell has joined the roster of L.A.-based Community Films for U.S. representation.
Bell’s recent work includes widely aired comic fare for Lowe’s with BBDO Worldwide, an award-winning Snickers spot with a falling lumberjack, and Samsung’s Bixby digital assistant. His body of work also contains several rounds of spots with MLB superstar Buster Posey for Toyota, and, recently, Gary Cole of Veep and Office Space fame for Chrysler.
Having spent many years on the agency side of the business, Bell is a creative’s director who works collaboratively with creative teams to bring projects to life. As a comedic director, he has a knack for portraying real people in absurd situations and showcasing the delicious quirks of human nature through subtle performance. His likable casting and super-specific camera placement are fundamentals of his comedy.
Prior to becoming a commercial film director, Bell spent 15 years as one of the most awarded creatives in the advertising industry with stints at Cliff Freeman & Partners, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, and later co-founding his own creative shop, Venables Bell & Partners. During that time, he was the winner of numerous awards, including Cannes Gold Lions, One Show Gold, AICP Show-recognized work included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, the Clio Hall of Fame and two campaigns in USA Today’s “Best of the Decade.” Bell also earned inclusion into SHOOT’s 2011 New Directors Showcase.
Bell said he was drawn to Community by executive producers Carl Swan and Lizzie Schwartz. “I signed in my head with them about 15 minutes into our first meeting,” recalled Bell. “Lizzie and Carl are about as genuine and down-to-earth as they come, and you can tell they’re still doing it for the love of the work itself.”
In NBC’s “Brilliant Minds,” Zachary Quinto Plays Doctor–In A Role Inspired By Physician/Author Oliver Sacks
There's a great moment in the first episode of the new NBC medical drama "Brilliant Minds" when it becomes very clear that we're not dealing with a typical TV doctor.
Zachary Quinto is behind the wheel of a car barreling down a New York City parkway, packed with hospital interns, abruptly weaving in and out of lanes, when one of them asks, "Does anyone want to share a Klonopin?" — a drug sometimes used to treat panic disorders.
"Oh, glory to God, yes, please," says Quinto, reaching an arm into the back seat. The intern then breaks the pill in half and gives a sliver to the driver, who swallows it, as the other interns share stunned looks.
Quinto, playing the character Dr. Oliver Wolf, is clearly not portraying any dour, by-the-rules doctor here — he's playing a character inspired by Dr. Oliver Sacks, the path-breaking researcher and author who rose to fame in the 1970s and was once called the "poet laureate of medicine."
"He was someone who was tirelessly committed to the dignity of the human experience. And so I feel really grateful to be able to tell his story and to continue his legacy in a way that I hope our show is able to do," says Quinto.
He's a fern-loving doctor
"Brilliant Minds" takes Sack's personality — a motorcycle-riding, fern-loving advocate for mental health who died in 2015 at 82 — and puts him in the present day, where the creators theorize he would have no idea who Taylor Swift is or own a cell phone. The series debuts Monday on NBC, right after "The Voice."
"It's almost as if we're imagining what it would have been like if Oliver Sacks had been born at a different time," says Quinto. "We use the real life person as our North Star through everything we're doing and all the... Read More