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As part of our Directors Series mix, here are a pair of sponsored content profiles in which directors Jay Patton of Dictionary Films and James Lipetzky of Foundation Content reflect on their most creative, challenging work this year, as well as lessons learned about the business and/or themselves based on their experience/projects in 2013. Jay Patton 1) What project has been most significant for you this year in terms of creative challenges you were able to meet and/or how did it help to define or diversify the nature of your work? I worked on a great Philadelphia Cream Cheese project with McGarry/Bowen Chicago. They wanted a spot that followed milk through all of the steps to becoming cream cheese. 2) What has (have) been the most important lesson(s) you have learned about the business or about yourself as a director based on your experience/projects this year? This year I’ve really learned the importance of stepping out from behind the camera. Previously, I’ve operated the camera on almost everything I’ve directed. As I tackle bigger projects with creative that is more dialogue and performance driven, I have really seen the benefits of delegating the camera work. 3) Have you a mentor or mentors? If so, who? And how has that (those) mentor(s) helped to influence or shape you as a filmmaker? Nadav Kurtz has been an inspiration to work with, I love that he makes his own opportunities and is always exploring new ways to approach the stories he’s trying to tell. |
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1) What project has been most significant for you this year in terms of creative challenges you were able to meet and/or how did it help to define or diversify the nature of your work? Filming the documentary feature, License to Operate, over this past summer has been the creative challenge of my career. It was a wonderful and challenging opportunity. It started when I did a short for a charity Pete Carroll started called A Better LA which funds gang interventionists. The agency, Omelet, and I decided the story deserved to play out over a feature and with their support, I was able to make the film. Link to License to Operate teaser trailer: https://vimeo.com/74390569 2) What has (have) been the most important lesson(s) you have learned about the business or about yourself as a director based on your experience/projects this year? Focus on what’s in front of you. The amount of change to the business over the past year has been monumental. I’ve seen more change in the past six months than I have in the previous ten years. As a creative, you just have to accept that uncertainty and embrace it because you can’t change it. Let every shot be an opportunity for change. Let every shoot challenge you. I try to be organized for every shoot but I’m also open to where the shoot and then the edit takes the idea. Filming the doc feature, License to Operate, was a case in point. I had expectations for the story but it changed every day. If you’re open to it, change is the best thing to happen to you. 3) Have you a mentor or mentors? If so, who? And how has that (those) mentor(s) helped to influence or shape you as a filmmaker? I wouldn’t say I had mentors as a director but I was influenced by directors I worked with as a commercial editor. From Zack Snyder, I learned the importance of constantly reworking the camera within a scene to find the best way to film it vs. shooting twenty takes of the same thing. No frame of film from Zack was the same. The lensing always differed. He was constantly exploring trying to find the truth of a scene. From Errol Morris, I learned the importance of being in a conversation with the people you’re interviewing rather than having a check-list you go through. Let the subject lead you where they want to go and together you both can find the story that needs to be told. So when it came to filming my feature, you can say they were mentors in a way to me since I put both those skills to the test. |
James LipetzkySupreme Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Class Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against Meta
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place.
The high court dismissed the company's appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump 's first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company's shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. "The plaintiff's claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court," Stone said in an emailed statement.
Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users.
Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon. It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.
The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia.... Read More