Director Nick Jasenovec, who made his first splash in the feature film world with Paper Heart before successfully diversifying into the ad arena, has joined the roster of Caviar. He was formerly repped for commercials and branded content by Nonfiction Unlimited.
Paper Heart, a feature mixing documentary and loosely scripted narrative elements, starred Charlene Yi and Michael Cera, and helped earn Jasenovec inclusion into SHOOT‘s 2009 New Directors Showcase. Paper Heart also won him the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the ’09 Sundance Film Festival
Jasenovec returned to Sundance the following year with a Microsoft Bing-sponsored short film, Para Fuera, which profiled cardiologist/researcher/medical professor/composer/Renaissance man Dr. Richard Bing on his 100th birthday. Para Fuera came about when Dr. Bing wrote a letter to Microsoft, noting the similarities in his own name and Bing.com. Drawn to Dr. Bing’s life story–which included his research leading to the discovery of Taussing-Bing disease (named after him)–Microsoft approached Nonfiction to produce and Jasenovec to direct the film. Para Fuera went on to garner a Silver Pencil, and a Young Director Award at Cannes.
Prior to Para Fuera, Jasenovec took on his first spot directing gig, a documentary-style Ford commercial starring Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe for JWT Detroit. Jasenovec later garnered repeat biz with another Ford assignment from JWT starring Rowe. The director’s commercialmaking credits also include FedEx.
Jasenovec’s filmography is additionally highlighted by the webisode series Do You Want To See A Dead Body for HBO’s Funny or Die Presents.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More