Director Shaun Conrad has signed with Santa Monica-based Snug Films, the year-old shop founded by director Michael Grasso and under the day-to-day aegis of executive producer Fran Wall.
Best known for his fashion/design work, Conrad had most recently been at Tate USA, Santa Monica. Prior to that, he was with Backyard, Venice, Calif.
Conrad gravitated toward Snug based on his belief that the shop was well positioned to help him garner work in two prime areas–one being fashion/design, the other narrative storytelling which is reflected in his new documentary, Purvis of Overtown. He cited the company’s sales force and the fact that the shop has a small, manageable roster, which should translate into his getting the personal attention needed to generate the proper work opportunities.
The Snug directorial lineup consists of Grasso, Conrad and the recently signed Andreas Grassl, an established European director who is making his first formal foray stateside.
Shot with friend David Raccuglia, the aforementioned Purvis of Overton chronicles the life and observations of Purvis Young, a self-taught painter and icon of African-American culture and history. “Yes, I want to do more narrative storytelling along with the fashion/design work,” related Conrad. “I’m drawn to two very different but highly focused areas of spotmaking.”
Conrad grew up in Minnesota, then moved to Chicago to attend the University of Illinois. He soon met up with Backyard co-founder Roy Skillicorn, who got him some local Chicago market spot jobs for hair salon Vidal Sassoon. With enough commercials under his belt, Conrad soon joined Backyard’s directorial roster. Conrad has only high praise for the production company, now headquartered in Venice. “I learned a lot about directing, just being at the same company as [directors] Rob Pritts and Kevin Smith was a positive experience for me” related Conrad.
Three years later, in 2002, Conrad left Backyard and headed for the West Coast, where he linked up with Tate USA. He worked consistently in the fashion/design arena but then made a conscious decision–and adopted a strategy–to diversify.
“I intentionally took myself out of the loop with Purvis Of Overton,” he explained. What Conrad found during the documentary was a love of narrative storytelling. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime project, so I disappeared from the commercial scene for awhile.”
He returned to commercials last year. Conrad’s spot credits over the years include work for such clients as Kraft, Burger King, Fruit Gushers, Pillsbury, Mervyn’s, Earthlink, K-Swiss and Reebok.
Snug Films is represented on the East Coast by Arthur Portnoy, in the Midwest by Maureen Butler, and on the West Coast by Rachel Finn and Mary Saxon of Finn/Saxon Represents. Snug is repped in Canada by Maxx Film and in Germany by Wunderfilm.
Beyoncé’s Halftime Show Highlighted Netflix’s NFL Debut On Xmas Day
Beyoncé provided more excitement than either game during Netflix's NFL debut on Christmas Day.
Riding into her halftime appearance on a white horse, the 32-time Grammy winner rocked her hometown Houston crowd with a nearly 13-minute performance on Wednesday.
She surprised fans by bringing along Shaboozey to perform "Sweet Honey Buckiin" and Post Malone joined her for "Levii's Jeans."
The action on the field didn't live up to expectations as the NFL showcased four of the AFC's top five teams.
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce exposed a glitch in Pittsburgh's defense during Kansas City's 29-10 rout in the first game.
The broadcast itself went off just fine, quickly becoming the second-most popular live title on Netflix to date, according to NFL Media.
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens led C.J. Stroud and the Texans to 17-2 at halftime before Beyoncé stole the show.
Mariah Carey opened Wednesday's doubleheader with a taped performance of "All I Want for Christmas is You" and then the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs trounced the Steelers to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
There were no signs of any major streaming issues during the game after Netflix experienced minor blunders at the start of the pregame show. The broadcast opened with roughly 10 seconds of silence because it appeared studio host Kay Adams' microphone wasn't turned on.
Beyoncé's live performance at NRG Stadium was supposed to be the biggest test for the streaming giant and it seemed to go off without a hitch.
Mahomes threw for 320 yards and three touchdowns and Kelce had eight catches for 84 yards and one score as the Chiefs (15-1) earned a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The... Read More