Director/cameraman Eric Saarinen has signed with production house greatguns for representation in the U.S. and internationally. He will be able to tap into the company’s Venice, Calif., London and Bangkok operations. Furthermore, greatguns plans to expand in the Asian theater with the launch of a Singapore office by late summer and a Shanghai shop further down the road.
Saarinen comes over to greatguns from TWC Films, Santa Monica, where he spent a couple of years. During his TWC tenure, Saarinen helmed work for such clients as John Deere, the U.S. Air Force, Atlanta Tourism, and Chevy. For the latter he directed “Disappear,” an eight-decade stop-action, time lapse history of automobiles and gas stations, culminating in the forthcoming hybrid electric vehicle, the Chevy Volt.
Saarinen is well known in the automotive advertising arena with work that goes far beyond sheet metal. In fact, Saarinen’s exploits over the years have helped to redefine the car ad discipline, key examples being Jeep’s “Snow Covered” (with visual effects by Digital Domain) for the then Bozell Worldwide, which won the Grand Prix at the 1994 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival; the lauded documentary series of “Road To Rio” spots for Nissan Pathfinder via TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles; the Land Rover “Discovery” spot from GSD&M in which a 180-degree orbiting camera seemingly takes us around the world to depict Land Rover as the most well-traveled vehicle on Earth; and a whimsical Fiat commercial for Italy that thrusts us into a harried, heavily trafficked city commute featuring people who are riding aboard animals.
Saarinen’s automotive track record was but one of the elements that drew greatguns to the director, according to Tom Korsan, managing partner of greatguns:USA. “Eric is a great problem solver and artist, has his hands in all kinds of technology trying to find new ways to tell stories, and is just a straight-up, nice guy,” said Korsan. “He’s been doing some guerilla filmmaking work, shooting with the Canon 5D Mark II [a hybrid HDSLR that shoots still work and HD video] that is taking him into new directions.”
For example, Saarinen is deploying the Canon 5D Mark II digital camera on some additional shooting in Los Angeles for Mitsubishi Air Conditioning and Heating. This imagery is being meshed with some film footage he captured in New Zealand during the course of his directing a TWC-produced package of spots for Mitsubishi. Based on the New Zealand footage, the client saw potential to evolve the spot campaign into a five-minute film for multiple platforms. Now under the greatguns banner, Saarinen’s work on the 5D is playing a part in bringing that short film, titled The Airhunter, to fruition.
Prior to TWC, Saarinen enjoyed a lengthy run at the since closed Plum Productions, a venerable mainstay house that he and partner/executive producer Chuck Sloan had co-founded.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More