Filmmaker also joins Holiday Films for Canadian work
Bicoastal Humble, headed by president/exec producer Eric Berkowitz, has added filmmaker and commercial director Matt Ogens to its roster. He joins Humble from Tool of North America. Alongside his move to Humble, Ogens has also signed with Toronto-based Holiday Films for Canadian representation.
Ogens got his start directing long form docu-series for networks including MTV, VH1, CBS, and CNN, and earned three Emmy nominations for his work on ESPN. His feature documentary “Confessions of a Superhero” debuted at SXSW to critical acclaim and was picked up for distribution by Morgan Spurlock’s documentary label. Ogens segued into commercials, working with top agencies and brands and racking up awards from The One Show, Clio, SXSW Interactive, and ADC for his “Screw*d” interactive campaign for Craftsman. He continues to work across both commercials and long form entertainment, recently directing “From Harlem with Love” for ESPN’s Emmy-winning “30 for 30” series, and preparing to release his second feature documentary “Meet the Hitlers,” which explores the impact of names on personal identity. His latest commercial projects include “This World” for Ford via Team Detroit and “Every Mile Matters” for Mitsubishi via 180LA.
“Advertising is changing and you have to be able to offer short form, long form, interactive content and more, and I was drawn to Humble because they’re a nimble shop that can do it all,” commented Ogens. “Humble is on an incredible trajectory right now and I’m excited to be joining the company as it reaches critical mass from coast to coast.”
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More