Production company Durable Goods has signed director Neil Tardio for U.S. commercial representation. Tardio’s signature comedic storytelling for brands such as AT&T, Budweiser, Coca-Cola, ESPN, Ford, McDonald’s, Nike, Verizon and Volkswagen has earned him numerous industry accolades, including Cannes Lions, Clios, Addys, Tellys, and London Art Director Awards. His natural knack for casting and dialogue can be seen in recent work, including a spot for Kaplan University out of Arnold Boston, a comedic commercial for Bank of America featuring the Boston Red Sox out of Hill Holliday, a Domino’s campaign out of Crispin Porter + Bogusky and a Tim Hortons spot out of JWT Canada.
Tardio grew up in the midst of the advertising industry, with his father owning a powerhouse commercial production company in New York in the ‘80s. After graduating from Boston University, he began his career on the agency side, working as a producer and writer for such agencies at Saatchi & Saatchi NY and DDB Chicago. Soon after launching his directing career, he earned a 1992 Peabody Award for the “Rock the Vote” special with Madonna.
In addition to his notable commercial work, Tardio has also helmed television projects, including 32 episodes for the children’s sports program P.E. TV, which eventually aired on ESPN, and the web series Lifeisode. His music video directorial success includes high-profile artists The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queen Latifah. Regarding film, his original screenplay, Son of Santa, was sold to United Artists, and he is casting for the upcoming feature The Wrong Man.
Tardio comes to Durable Goods from GO Film.
Writers of “Conclave,” “Say Nothing” Win Scripter Awards
The authors and screenwriters behind the film โConclaveโ and the series โSay Nothingโ won the 37th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards during a black-tie ceremony at USCโs Town and Gown ballroom on Saturday evening (2/22).
The Scripter Awards recognize the yearโs most accomplished adaptations of the written word for the screen, including both feature-length films and episodic series.
Novelist Robert Harris and screenwriter Peter Straughan took home the award for โConclave.โ
In accepting the award, Straughan said, โAdaptation is a really strange process, youโre very much the servant of two masters. In a way itโs an act of betrayal of one master for the other.โ He joked that โYou start off with a book that you love, you read it again and again, and then you end up throwing it over your shoulder,โ crediting author Robert Harris for being โso kind, so generous, so open throughout.โ
In the episodic series category, Joshua Zetumer and Patrick Radden Keefe won for the episode โThe People in the Dirtโ from the limited series โSay Nothing,โ which Zetumer adapted from Keefeโs nonfiction book about the Troubles in Ireland.
Zetumer referenced this yearโs extraordinary group of Scripter finalists, saying โprojects like these reminded me of why I wanted to become a writer when I was sitting in USCโs Leavey Library dreaming of becoming a screenwriter. If you fell in love with movies, or fell in love with TV, chances are you fell in love with something dangerous.โ
Special guest for the evening, actress and producer Jennifer Beals, shared her thoughts on the impact of libraries. โIf ever you are at a loss wondering if there is good in the world,โ she said, โyou have only to go to a... Read More