By Emily Vines
NEW YORK—Director Tripp Dixon has joined Good Films, New York, for exclusive commercial representation in the U.S. He has been with NFL Films, Mt. Laurel, N.J., a division of the National Football League, for the past eight years.
Although he noted that NFL Films didn’t limit him to "football-specific work," Dixon said he felt it was time to move on. When asked why he chose to sign with Good Films, he cited its executive producers/partners Kitty Overton and Ian Hunter, as well as the dynamic at the shop. "It’s a young company and I thought it had some exciting potential for me," he related.
To Overton, Dixon’s ease with sports figures was appealing. "We are looking for opportunities for him to do more of what he does well, which I think is really capturing a lighter side of the professional athlete or real person," she said. "There is a lot of personality in what he does, and we see that translating to almost every place where people use celebrities and real people and sports people to market their [brands]."
Dixon’s lighthearted approach is evident in a bumper titled "Advice" for the NFL Celebrity Golf Shootout, which features Samuel L. Jackson walking on the green between Jerome Bettis of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Warren Sapp of the Oakland Raiders. Playfully ribbing their opponent, Bettis and Sapp critique Jackson’s work, commenting that he sometimes falls short of a great performance. Samuel retorts that he never would have known that from his critics’ reviews. Straight-faced, the athletes continue to question Jackson’s technique and ask if he has tried any method acting courses, Stanislavsky perhaps? Caught off guard by the players’ knowledge of his craft, Jackson falls behind as Sapp bellows, "Stella!" and chuckles with Bettis.
Although Dixon’s reel primarily features work for the NFL, it also includes a comedic spec spot for Luden’s throat drops out of DDB New York. In "Late Night," a guy wakes up in bed alone—martini glasses and strewn clothes surround him. A raspy, masculine voice comes from the shower, commenting on the wonderful night they shared. Alarmed, the undressed man grabs his belongings and runs out. When a beautiful blonde woman emerges from the bathroom too late, a voiceover suggests, "Irritated throat? Try Luden’s Wild Cherry."
Dixon graduated from Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa., in 1991, and began working as a graphic designer in Hong Kong for STAR TV network’s on-air promotions department. A year later, he moved behind the camera as a director at the network. Upon returning to the States in ’96, he joined NFL Films.
At Good Films, he rounds out a directorial roster that includes Andrew Walton, Nick Rafter and Margee Challah.
Maggie Klein of Maggie Klein & Co., New York, represents the shop on the East Coast, while independent reps Maureen Butler and Yvette Lubinsky handle the Midwest and West Coast, respectively.
8 Aspiring DPs Receive Emerging Cinematographer Awards
The International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) presented eight aspiring DPs with 2024 Emerging Cinematographer Awards (ECA) during a ceremony, screening and reception held on Sunday (9/29) in the Television Academyโs Wolf Theatre at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood.
Also during the ECA proceedings, Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC accepted the Distinguished Filmmaker Award. Prieto is a four-time Best Cinematography Oscar nominee--for Ang Leeโs Brokeback Mountain, and Martin Scorseseโs Silence, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon.
In his opening awards ceremony remarks, Stephen Poster, ASC--who co-chairs the Guildโs ECA committee with Jimmy Matlosz--estimated that over the 26 years of the ECA, more than 200 up-and-coming lensers have garnered invaluable exposure and recognition early on in their careers. Submissions are open to Local 600 members who are not yet classified as DPs, and a panel of established ICG members from across the country assess the short film entries. The competition has intensified over the past two-plus decades. This yearโs eight honorees and their short films were selected from 118 submissions.
The class of 2024 ECA honorees are:
โDominic Bartolone for the short film Sweet Santa Barbara Brown
โAdam Carboni, INCOMPLETE
โMatthew Halla, The Unreachable Star
โJessica Hershatter, Pirandello on Broadway
โAllen Ho, Iron Lung
โNick Mahar, Sands of Fate
โDylan Trivette, Bearing Witness: A Name & A Voice
โAndrew Trost, Bloom
These emerging cinematographers benefited from more than just the Sunday showcase in North... Read More