Two long-time friends and colleagues who kicked around the idea of going into business together over the years have finally done so. Blair Stribley, who recently became sole owner of mainstay production company Backyard, and Tom Duff, president of post house Optimus, Chicago and Santa Monica, have teamed along with the other Optimus partners to launch Mighty Film. The new shop opens with a roster comprised of several directors who come over from Backyard, which continues to maintain its own lineup of filmmakers.
Both Mighty and Backyard will operate out of the same Venice complex, which has been the longstanding home to Backyard. Mighty, Backyard and Optimus are completely autonomous and each operates independently.
Mighty Film currently sports such talent as directors Phil Brown, Jesper Ericstam, Rob Pritts and Rob Sanders. In fact, Sanders has embarked on the first job under the Mighty banner, a campaign for a high-profile client whose identity Stribley is not yet at liberty to disclose publicly. Meanwhile Backyard’s roster continues to include directors Kevin Smith, Chace Strickland and Bo Mirosseni.
Stribley said he is actively looking to grow Mighty and Backyard, adding directors to both companies. He views the two shops as representing a best-of-both worlds scenario. Backyard has built up a strong following and marketplace equity during its 20-plus years in business. Meanwhile Mighty represents a chance to build a shop “with a fresh, clean slate,” moving into new directions and shaping a roster with an infusion of new talent. Stribley noted that in addition to directors, he has been courting hybrid writer/director/producer types so as to diversify Mighty’s reach to encompass not only commercials but also to foster development of longer-form fare, including branded content and other forms of entertainment.
While affirming that his focus is “to build Mighty and have it stand on its own two feet”–separate from Backyard and Optimus–Stribley acknowledged that, if clients want and as projects dictate, there can be a coming together in order to realize certain creative and cost-effective advantages. Mighty clients, for instance, could tap into Optimus’ editing, post, VFX, design and audio talent and resources, making for a complete one-stop shop production business model. But that model will only evolve, said Stribley, in “a natural organic way. We are not forcing it.”
Duff related that “projects and clients will dictate what’s best. We’re just positioning ourselves to be able to offer different options to clients if it helps on a particular job.” He noted that Optimus and Mighty “share a lot of the same culture,” which can be useful when the two companies come together on an assignment. But for the most part, Stribley and Duff think clients will regard Mighty and Backyard as stand-alone, high-end live action production houses–and that agencies and advertisers will access them independently for their respective directors and production wherewithal.
Backyard’s Kris Mathur becomes executive producer of Mighty. Eric Bonniot will executive produce both Backyard and Mighty projects. Cori Cooperider serves as head of production for both companies, which share the same sales force consisting of independent rep firm The Family–Chris Zander, Diane Patrone and Anna Rotholz–on the East Coast; Them Reps, with Jimmy Waldron and Wendy Hanson, in the Midwest; and reps Brad Grubaugh and Mark Andrews on the West Coast.
Optimus continues to maintain sister shop ONE at Optimus, a production division featuring new, up-and-coming directorial talent, including several helmers who have been recognized in recent years in SHOOT‘s annual New Directors Showcase at the DGA Theatre in New York. ONE at Optimus is under the aegis of managing director/executive producer John Noble.
Oscar Winners “I’m Still Here” and “Emilia Pérez” Shed Light On Latin America’s Thousands of People Who’ve Disappeared
If there is a still open wound in Latin America, it is that of the tens of thousands of disappeared people and decadeslong pain that has accumulated in parts of the region such as Mexico and Colombia.
Two visions of the trauma had a central role at the 97th Academy Awards: the Brazilian film "Ainda Estou Aqui" ("I'm Still Here"), which tells the drama of the family of a leftist former congressman who disappeared in 1971 at the height of the military dictatorship; and the musical "Emilia Pérez," about a fictional Mexican drug lord who leaves a life of crime to become a transgender woman and searcher for the disappeared in Mexico.
"We hope that in this way the society will be sensitized," said activist Indira Navarro, who directs the Guerreros Buscadores de Jalisco collective in Mexico and has been searching for her brother, who disappeared in the northern state of Sonora nine years ago.
The Academy Awards' recognition of the films, both of which were nominated in multiple categories, was an unparalleled opportunity to make the problem visible, Navarro said.
"I'm Still Here," by Brazilian Walter Salles, won the Oscar in the category of best international film. "Emilia Pérez," by renowned French director Jacques Audiard, was this year's most-nominated film and won in the categories of best original song and best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña.
Salles and Audiard's films also had a common denominator of disappearances in Latin America: impunity.
The story behind "I'm Still Here"
"I'm Still Here" was inspired by the book "Ainda Estou Aqui" by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, son of the disappeared former congressman Rubens Paiva. More than five decades after he was taken from his Rio de Janeiro home and... Read More