Community Films has added the directing duo Ben/Dave–consisting of Ben Hurst and Dave Thomas–to its talent roster.
Hurst and Thomas first met in Salt Lake City, Utah, when the latter was an agency creative director and Hurst was directing commercials. They later joined forces and have gone on to turn out work for such brands as Pepsi, Bowlmor/AMF, Honda, Samsung, Progressive Insurance, Heinz and GE. Prior to coming aboard Community Films, Ben/Dave was with Washington Square Films for commercials and branded content.
Ben/Dave joins a Community directorial lineup which includes Seth Gordon, Jared Hess, Pam Thomas, Clay Williams, Emil Mรถller, Marius Crowne, Clay Tweel, Albert Uria, Aleysa Young, and John Wikstrom.
Hurst and Thomas said they were drawn to Community on several levels, including their admiration for its well curated roster of directors, and their affinity for company partners/exec producers Lizzie Schwartz and Carl Swan.
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 โ a series of 10 plays โ 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