Mirrror Films, the L.A. house headed by owner/executive producer Eric Barrett, has added director/DP Liz Hinlein to it roster. She had formerly been represented by production veteran Tom Mooney’s shop, Moon.
As a commercial director, Hinlein has traveled the world working for such brands as Dove, Revlon, Maybelline, Olay, Visine, Gillette and Nivea. She has shot in China, Moscow, Prague, Argentina, Brazil, Poland and Thailand. Her spot exploits also include directing celebrity talent such as Kelly Garner, Jonathan Tucker, Halle Berry, Britney Spears, and Mary J. Blige.
Hinlein is perhaps best known for her fashion/beauty work, and she sees Barrett as helping to further diversify her ad endeavors. “Eric Barrett is so dedicated to the industry,” she said. “He’s enthusiastic about his directors through his work with Mirror and the X-Dance Film Festival. I’m excited to see how he can broaden the work I’ve been doing focusing on Fashion and Beauty, but also opening me up to new opportunities in areas like automotive and sports, which are visceral and active.” In addition to her commercial career, Hinlein is in the midst of working her own feature film entitled Other People’s Children.
Born in Philadelphia, Hinlein received a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute (AFI). Her short films White Boys Can’t Dance, Mistress Ruby, and Haute Voltage have screened at venues worldwide, including the Berlin Film Festival, Slamdance, Blackwatch Film Festival, the NY Indie Film Festival, the Hamptons International Film Festival, and on Comedy Central.
Hinlein recently served as DP on the Candice Bushnell-written/Maybelline-sponsored The Boardroom, starring the ensemble cast of Jennie Garth, Jennifer Esposito, Talia Balsam, and Mary McCann. Hinlein also lensed the popular All About Me series for Strike TV, and the upcoming black women in rock documentary, Nice and Rough, starring Nona Hendrix and Cindy Blackman.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More