Raucous Content has signed Russell Brownley for U.S. representation.
Based out of Southern California, Brownley began his career shooting surf films and documentaries. So, it’s no surprise that Brownley gravitates his narratives to the ocean, having the keen ability to capture the story both above and underwater.
The director’s penchant for hands-on adventure and multicultural storytelling has led him to work on projects in over 50 countries, lending his creative spirit to clients such as Nike, Google, Disney, Visa, Timberland, Verizon, Sony, Compassion International, World Vision, Samaritan’s Purse, SpikeTV, Red Bull and more. Brownley is a trusted collaborative partner of agencies including Mullen Lowe Boston, having helped to establish its Royal Caribbean campaign for six years running, with the newest ad slated to air during the Winter Olympics.
Known primarily for his hybrid docu-narrative style, Brownley is skilled at directing professionals and non-actors alike. The cinematographer-director keenly captures the essence of people’s real experiences, as evidenced by his upcoming work for barbering brand Andis featuring individual stories from the Compton Cowboys.
Brownley has been a part of multiple award-winning documentaries over the course of his career, directing Gum For My Boat, serving as cinematographer and editor on director Jeremy Dean’s Dare Not Walk Alone, and as cinematographer, editor and art director on director Becky Baumgartner’s Heart of a Soul Surfer: The Bethany Hamilton Story.
Brownley’s documentary projects, both personal and for non-profits, are frequently infused with themes of activism and Civil Rights–issues near to his heart. For example, On The Side of Right–a short film directed by Brownley–captures surfer Gigi Lucas reveling in the freedom of the waves off of Florida’s St. Augustine beach, the exact location where only 56 years earlier a group of segregationists attacked 100 African Americans attempting to wade into the “Whites-only” water, a movement which led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Prior to joining Raucous Content, Brownley was most recently represented by B-Reel Films. He is currently repped by Bollywood in France and D-Agent in China.
Raucous Content’s EP Steve Wi has closely followed Brownley’s career, and was most drawn to Brownley’s ability to devote himself to the craft in a literal sense: “Russell is clear in his vision yet multifaceted in his abilities. He can direct in water, on land. Next…we’ll go to space.”
With this new union, Wi and Brownley seek to expand further into the hybrid arena, pushing more into narrative-based projects which still pay homage to a documentary look and feel.
Brownley shared, “You always want to work with people you like. And that’s Steve. He’s just an all-around great guy. who from day one understood who I really am and where I want to go next in my filmmaking career. As a huge fan of his company for some time, I knew Raucous was the right fit for me.”
Juliette Welfling Takes On A Musical, A Crime Thriller, Comedy and Drama In “Emelia Pérez”
Editor Juliette Welfling has a track record of close-knit, heartfelt collaboration with writer-director Jacques Audiard, a four-time BAFTA Award nominee for Best Film not in the English Language--starting with The Beat That My Heart Skipped in 2006, then A Prophet in 2010, Rust and Bone in 2013, and Dheepan in 2017. He won for The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet.
Welfling cut three of those features: A Prophet, Rust and Bone, and Dheepan. And that shared filmography has since grown to most recently include Emelia Pérez, the Oscar buzz-worthy film from Netflix. Welfling herself is not stranger to Academy Award banter. In fact, she earned a Best Achievement in Film Editing Oscar nomination in 2008 for director Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Emelia Pérez is a hybrid musical/drama/thriller which introduces us to a talented but undervalued lawyer named Rita (portrayed by Zoe Saldana) who receives a lucrative offer out of the blue from a feared drug cartel boss who’s looking to retire from his sordid business and disappear forever by becoming the woman he’s always dreamt of being (Karla SofÃa Gascón in a dual role as Manitas Del Monte/Emilia Pérez). Rita helps pull this off, orchestrating the faked death of Del Monte who leaves behind a widow (Jessi, played by Selena Gomez) and kids. While living comfortably and contently in her/their new identity, Pérez misses the children. Pérez once again enlists Rita--this time to return to family life, reuniting with the kids by pretending to be their aunt, the sister of Del Monte. Now as an aunt, Pérez winds up adopting a more altruistic bent professionally,... Read More