Production and entertainment company Merman has added Emmy-nominated director and writer Dime Davis to its roster for global representation spanning branded content and advertising collaborations. The relationship developed during Merman and Davis’ work together on an upcoming campaign for Old Spice and Wieden+Kennedy,
“Dynamic. Forward-thinking. With an incredible slate of work. These have been important tenants in my choosing a creative home. Merman is that home, and I’m beyond excited to be joining the family,” explained Davis. “As I continue to move between long and short forms, comedy and drama, I’m eager to be partnering with a team who is truly and authentically invested in my goals as a visual storyteller. I genuinely cannot wait to see what magic we make together.”
In addition to commercial content helmed by an award-winning roster of directors, Merman is focused on bringing writers and creators from its TV and film family into scripting entertainment for brands in collaboration with agency partners. Davis’ experience in both areas make her a natural fit for Merman.
“I’m thrilled Dime has chosen Merman as her home for branded work. I’m a big fan and can’t wait to get to work with her,” said Merman co-founder Sharon Horgan.
Kira Carstensen, Merman’s global managing partner, who worked closely with Davis on Old Spice, added, “It’s so amazing when you admire someone as a person as much as their work. Dime has a rare quality that is hard to find. She brings people in. She engages her team creatively at every level. We feel so lucky to be her chosen partners for branded and can’t wait to do more great work together.”
In addition to directing branded projects for Nissan and Disney, Davis recently served as writer and consulting producer for The First Lady on Showtime, starring Viola Davis, Gillian Anderson, and Michelle Pfieffer. Davis also directed and co-executive produced HBO’s A Black Lady Sketch Show, where she directed the entirety of season 1 and received two Emmy nominations for her work.
Davis served as the pilot and finale director for season 1 of Lena Waithe’s Boomerang. Davis’ work was so integral to the series, she was made showrunner and executive producer for season 2, writing and directing half of the season’s episodes. Dime’s additional television credits include Amazon’s Modern Love, The Chi, and ABC’s acclaimed and Emmy-winning Abbott Elementary starring Quinta Brunson and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Merman’s advertising and branded division has offices in Los Angeles, New York and London, Its noted advertising work include campaigns for Guinness, British Airways, Facebook, Dove, and Captain Morgan, as well as branded content series and collaborations for Homegoods, IBM, and Xfinity. Merman Television has won multiple accolades including three BAFTAs and multiple Emmy and RTS nominations.
Jules Feiffer, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Cartoonist and Writer, Dies At 95
Jules Feiffer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and writer whose prolific output ranged from a long-running comic strip to plays, screenplays and children's books, died Friday. He was 95 and, true to his seemingly tireless form, published his last book just four months ago.
Feiffer's wife, writer JZ Holden, said Tuesday that he died of congestive heart failure at their home in Richfield Springs, New York, and was surrounded by friends, the couple's two cats and his recent artwork.
Holden said her husband had been ill for a couple of years, "but he was sharp and strong up until the very end. And funny."
Artistically limber, Feiffer hopscotched among numerous forms of expression, chronicling the curiosity of childhood, urban angst and other societal currents. To each he brought a sharp wit and acute observations of the personal and political relations that defined his readers' lives.
As Feiffer explained to the Chicago Tribune in 2002, his work dealt with "communication and the breakdown thereof, between men and women, parents and children, a government and its citizens, and the individual not dealing so well with authority."
Feiffer won the United States' most prominent awards in journalism and filmmaking, taking home a 1986 Pulitzer Prize for his cartoons and "Munro," an animated short film he wrote, won a 1961 Academy Award. The Library of Congress held a retrospective of his work in 1996.
"My goal is to make people think, to make them feel and, along the way, to make them smile if not laugh," Feiffer told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 1998. "Humor seems to me one of the best ways of espousing ideas. It gets people to listen with their guard down."
Feiffer was born on Jan. 26, 1929, in the Bronx. From... Read More