Little Minx has signed award-winning filmmaker Kevin Wilson Jr. to its directorial roster for commercial and branded entertainment representation. Wilson first came to the attention of the industry with his short student film My Nephew Emmett, based on the true story of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till. The film, which was his thesis project at NYU, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film in 2018 at the 90th Academy Awards and was screened at film festivals all over the world including the New York Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival and HollyShorts Film Festival. He also won the Gold Medal at the 44th Student Academy Awards, a Directors Guild of America Student Film Award and a BAFTA Student Film Award.
“Kevin has this extraordinary ability as a filmmaker to search deep into your soul,” said Rhea Scott, president of Little Minx. “He’s not scared to speak about the unspoken. But most importantly, what I love about Kevin is his integrity and grace as a human being. “
Wilson said, “Little Minx has a history of representing great directors and great storytellers. I wanted to be a part of that. Some of my biggest film heroes are here, including Malik Sayeed and Andrew Dosunmu. I look forward to working with Rhea and her team not only in the commercial world, but also doing long-form projects and music videos.”
Wilson broke into advertising in 2020 with brands and agencies first turning to him for socially conscious projects. He directed Procter & Gamble’s “Widen the Screen,” a powerful spot about how perceptions shift once the full picture of Black life is unveiled, which won many awards including a Cannes Silver Lion. And his “Unboxing” gun safety PSA for States United to Prevent Gun Violence, a cringeworthy depiction of what happens when guns fall into the hands of children, won an ANDY, a Gold Young Directors Award, a D&AD Pencil and more. Both the gun safety PSA and the P&G spot were produced by Chelsea Pictures, Wilson’s roost prior to joining Little Minx. This year, Wilson was named one of 15 Filmmakers Who’ve Made A Difference by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on a list including Ryan Coogler, Spike Lee, John Singleton and Ava DuVernay.
Wilson is a North Carolina native where he studied journalism, got into acting, wrote plays and fell in love with filmmaking. He received a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and was honored with the Spike Lee Production Fellowship. He quickly found success in advertising, being named 2021 AICP/MoMA’s Best New Director.
Wilson’s most recent work, a Netflix Original Documentary: Untold: The Rise & Fall of AND1, opened in the Top 5 most watched movies on Netflix this past August. Wilson is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
“My ultimate goal is to jump in and out of feature filmmaking, branded content and commercials,” said Wilson. “I’d like to make films for fashion brands like Givenchy, and fragrance and automotive brands. There are a lot of people in the Black community who buy these high-end products, who wear Burberry and Gucci, and they spend a lot of money. I’d love to see more diversity reflected in their advertising campaigns. I’d love to find a way to get more representation.”
Movie Armorer’s Involuntary Manslaughter Conviction Upheld In Fatal “Rust” Shooting
A New Mexico judge on Monday upheld an involuntary manslaughter conviction against a movie armorer in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film "Rust."
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed asked a court to dismiss her conviction or convene a new trial, alleging that prosecutors failed to share evidence that could have cleared her.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in her written order noted that the armorer's attorneys did not establish that there was a reasonable possibility that the outcome of the trial would have been different had the evidence been available to Gutierrez-Reed.
The judge also rejected a request from Gutierrez-Reed that she be released from custody, saying it was moot because the request for a new trial was denied.
Marlow Sommer halted and ended Baldwin's trial in July based on misconduct of police and prosecutors and their withholding evidence from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set outside Santa Fe.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for "Rust," was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
A jury convicted Gutierrez-Reed of involuntary manslaughter in March in a trial overseen by Marlowe Sommer, who later sentenced her to the maximum 18-month penalty. Gutierrez-Reed has an appeal of the conviction pending in a higher court. Jurors acquitted her of allegations she tampered with evidence in the "Rust" investigation.
Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of "Rust" and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
Evidence that Gutierrez-Reed's... Read More