Director J.C. Chandor–whose feature filmography consists of Margin Call (for which he earned a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination in 2012), All Is Lost, and A Most Violent Year–has joined RESET, the production house founded by managing director Dave Morrison and filmmaker David Fincher, for commercials and branded content worldwide.
Chandor had previously been handled in the ad arena by Washington Square Films, which was involved in all three of the director’s features.
Last December, the National Board of Review (NBR) tabbed director/writer Chandor’s A Most Violent Year as the Best Film of 2014. A drama set during the winter of 1981–statistically one of the most violent crime years in New York City’s history–A Most Violent Year starred Oscar Isaac as Abel Morales, a fuel supplier who’s trying to grow his business while staying true to his moral compass, a proposition which seems impossible in the face of rampant violence and corruption. Both the business and Morales’ family–including his wife portrayed by Jessica Chastain–are in jeopardy.
“A Most Violent Year is an exhilarating crime drama with a compelling story, outstanding performances, and an elegant cinematic style,” said Annie Schulhof, NBR president. “J.C. Chandor has given us a new and provocative perspective on the American Dream.”
NBR voting yielded a tie for the Best Actor honor between Isaac for A Most Violent Year and Michael Keaton for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Chastain earned Best Supporting Actress distinction for her performance in A Most Violent Year.
A Most Violent Year also garnered Chandor an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Screenplay in 2015. The year prior, Chandor was a Spirit Award nominee for Best Director on the strength of All Is Lost, which starred Robert Redford as a man who sails the Indian Ocean alone and suddenly finds himself in desperate survival mode when his boat is damaged and heads into a violent storm. On display are his ingenuity and resilience as well as his inner spirit as he faces the prospects of his own mortality. Chandor wrote the action/adventure film in a way whereby audiences came to know the Redford character through what he was experiencing rather than the spoken word.
A Most Violent Year and All Is Lost continued a Spirit Awards tradition for Chandor which began with Margin Call, a Wall Street-themed thriller that featured an ensemble cast including Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker and Demi Moore. Chandor’s debut theatrical motion picture, Margin Call, earned Best First Feature distinction from both the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and the Spirit Awards in 2012. At the latter competition, Margin Call additionally won the coveted Robert Altman Award, which is the Spirit’s Best Creative Ensemble honor spanning its director, casting directors and cast. Chandor also was named Best Debut Director by the National Board of Review.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More