PRETTYBIRD has signed filmmaker Jason Zada, who’s known for his immersive storytelling skills reflected in work for such agencies as Wieden+Kennedy, CP+B, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, RPA, Y&R and Grey.
Zada made his first industry mark upon opening his own agency Evolution Bureau (EVB) in 2000 which in the digital storytelling arena created memorable work such as “Elf yourself” for Office Max, an interactive viral website of dancing elves that attracted 194 million people in six weeks.
When Omnicom acquired EVB, Zada moved behind the camera to direct full time, joining Tool of North America to work for clients including Sony, Adidas, Goodyear, Old Spice, Sunny Delight, Sega and Showtime. “I just woke up and realized that I was most happy when I was on set,” Zada explained. “I had already started directing projects out of my agency so it felt like a natural transition.”
Zada quickly scored widespread success releasing the customized interactive video “Take This Lollipop,” work viewed over 150 million times to date, collecting D&AD and Emmy Awards as well as three awards at SXSW: Overall Best in Show, and first place in both the Experimental and Motion Graphics categories.
Zada is currently in post on his first full-length feature The Forest, a supernatural tale from the mind of producer/screenwriter David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice). The film is also being exec produced by Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Inglorious Basterds).
“We are very excited to be working with a multi-faceted storyteller like Jason,” said Kerstin Emhoff, co-founder and president of PRETTYBIRD. “He is not only an award winning non-traditional creative, but now with his first feature about to be completed, he’s going to be a major force in any entertainment space.”
“I’m excited to be returning to advertising with PRETTYBIRD,” said Zada, back after a shoot in Serbia and Japan. “The film taught me so much, and I’m itching to get back into the commercial work. I’m intrigued to see what we can create together at PRETTYBIRD as our goals for the future are very much aligned. I’m looking forward to the journey ahead.“
From Restoring To Hopefully Preserving Multi-Camera Categories At The Emmys
When Gary Baum, ASC won his fourth career Emmy Award earlier this month, it was especially gratifying in that the honor came in a category--Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Half-Hour Series--that had been restored thanks in part to a grass-roots initiative among cinematographers to drum up entries. Last year the category fell by the wayside when not enough multi-camera entries materialized.
In his acceptance speech, Baum appealed to the Television Academy to keep multi-camera categories alive. He later noted to SHOOT that editors also got their multi-camera recognition back in the Emmy competition this year. Baum hopes that after resurrecting multi-camera categories in 2024, such recognition will be preserved for 2025 and beyond.
A major factor in the decline of multi-camera submissions in 2023 was the move of certain children’s and family programming from the primetime Emmy competition to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ (NATAS) Emmy ceremony. For DPs this meant that multi-camera programs last year were reduced to vying for just one primetime nomination slot in the more general Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (Half-Hour) category. It turned out that this single slot was filled in ‘23 by a Baum-lensed episode of How I Met Your Father (Hulu).
Fast forward to this year’s competition and Baum won for another installment of How I Met Your Father--”Okay Fine, It’s A Hurricane,” which turned out to be the series finale. Two of Baum’s Emmy wins over the years have been for How I Met Your Father, and there’s a certain symmetry to them. His initial win for How I Met Your Father was for the pilot in 2022. So he won Emmys for the very first and last... Read More