Director Jeff Tomsic has joined L.A.-based Community Films for U.S. representation. Tomsic is a well-regarded feature film and TV director whose extensive credits include the feature film Tag and episodes of both Broad City and the TBS comedy series The Detour. He has also been making commercials for several years, helming work for brands including Jeep, Speed Stick, Miller, Hasbro and Dr. Pepper.
He recently completed his first work for Community Films, a spot for LensCrafters featuring Sharon Stone that was shot in San Francisco. Stone was named the new face of the eyewear brand’s “Your Eyes First” campaign earlier this year.
Prior to connecting with Community Films, Tomsic was last repped in the advertising arena by Go Film.
Lizzie Schwartz, partner/executive producer at Community Films, said of Tomsic, “It’s a pleasure to be part of his passion for the craft of creating a story, which is only matched by his great rapport with talent, agency and clients alike.”
Tomsic was inspired to direct movies when his father accidentally brought home a copy of John Carpenter’s 1982 horror film The Thing when he was just nine. Tomsic explained that his father thought it was the 1951 Howard Hawkes sci-fi film The Thing From Another World and not a film that came by its R-rating honestly. It would prove a major catalyst for his subsequent career.
Tomsic’s short film I’m Having a Difficult Time Killing My Parents debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011, and he also worked as a director and executive producer on the Comedy Central series Idiotsitter and This is Not Happening. Prior to directing commercials, he worked with MTV, first as a producer and then director of integrated marketing.
Tomsic made his feature film debut with 2018’s Tag, an adaption of a real-life story about men who played a game of tag for three decades. The film starred Jeremy Renner (who recently appeared in a Jeep ad directed by Tomsic), Jon Hamm, Ed Helms and Hannibal Buress.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More