Backyard has added director/DP Anthony Furlong to its roster for commercial and branded content representation in the U.S. He brings to the production house diverse expertise as a live-action director, VFX/graphic artist and animation director. Often, two or more of these disciplines are included as part of his films.
For the past six months, Furlong had been directing via his own ongoing company, Basic Nature, as a freelancer. Prior to that he had been repped by Alkemy X in the ad arena.
Furlong's body of work includes collaborations with various blue-chip brands, including IKEA, Motorola, Samsung, Apple and NBC.
With a background as an actor, programmer, auto engineer, and numerous creative roles, Furlong brings a unique analytical perspective to each project that complements his instinctive artistic sense.
“His works are performance driven, artistic masterpieces,” said Backyard CMO and managing director, Roy Skillicorn. “They reflect the vision of a true visual thinker.”
Back in 2014, furlong earned an Emmy in art direction for his work on NBC’s Sunday Night Football intro starring Carrie Underwood.
“His lavish imagery draws from a deep, and constantly updated, toolbox of techniques,” related Kris Mathur, Backyard’s EP; “With an engineer’s mind and the heart of an artist, his work manifests itself in unique and unconventional cinematic ways.”
Furlong said he was drawn to Backyard by its “high quality work” as well as its “familial environment, communication and teamwork.”
Backyard’s president, Kevin Allodi, added, “Anthony is the proprietor of Basic Nature, where he applies his various VFX/GFX and editing skills, often finishing his own work. He not only fills a significant place as a live action director on our roster, but his post company allows us to efficiently package live action through the finished product, something many of our clients are increasingly asking for–we plan to put Basic Nature to good use for our entire roster, whenever appropriate.”
Furlong joins a Backyard directorial roster that includes Greg Popp, Xander Strohm, Kevin Fitzgerald, Jeff Lable, Jesper Ohlsson, Steph Green, Shyam Madiraju, and Patrick Creadon.
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More