Tool has signed director Rachel McDonald for commercials and branded content worldwide.
McDonald’s first work for Tool centered around the 2017 Grammy Awards. The film, It Was You, debuted earlier this month for the Recording Academy’s “Believe In Music” campaign, built around Taylor Swift’s speech from the 2016 Grammy Awards. McDonald spent her early years working with and learning from such noted filmmakers as Clint Eastwood, Frank Darabont, and Nancy Meyers. In 2014, McDonald directed her first narrative short called Thirst, starring Melanie Griffith. The film was nominated for the Golden Pardino at the Locarno International Film Festival, and won at the Emerging Cinematographer’s Awards. To date, McDonald has worked in both the American and Canadian markets, directing spots for clients including Motorola, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Pampers, West Elm, Special Olympics, Maple Leaf and Nick Fouquet.
Prior to joining Tool, McDonald’s most recent production company affiliation was R A U C O U S Content,
“Rachel has a really special way of telling raw, honest and emotion-packed stories driven directly from her heart,” said Oliver Fuselier, managing partner, live action at Tool.
McDonald is the latest directorial signing at Tool, which has recently added filmmakers Lily Baldwin, Nora Kirkpatrick, Martin Aamund and Danielle Levitt to its roster.
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