SHOOTonline will publish a Special Directors>e.dition on Monday, April 4, that will contain the entire Directors Series section from SHOOT’s April print issue (including extended versions of some stories).
The lineup of Director Profiles includes three of this year’s DGA Award winners: Alejandro G. Iñárritu who topped the feature film category with The Revenant; Matthew Heineman who earned best documentary distinction for Cartel Land; and Andreas Nilsson of Biscuit Filmworks who won the commercials competition with “Emily’s Oz” for Comcast/Xfinity, “Dad Song” for Old Spice and “Time Upon A Once” for GE. Also in the mix are Sophie Muller of Wondros and Tricia Brock of the recently launched Hey Wonderful, part of the RSA family of companies. Muller and Brock have made a major splash with ambitious longer form branded content. Muller helmed a four-minute live music video/spot for Target which aired during February’s Grammy Awards telecast on CBS while Brock directed the eight-episode Nike online series Margot v. Lily.
Rounding out our roster of profiles are two duos who have made their mark in features and spots: Daniels of production house PRETTYBIRD; and Anthony and Joe Russo, aka the Russo brothers, who are partnered in their own commercials/branded content production company Bullitt. Consisting of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Daniels recently won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival for Swiss Army Man, which marked their feature filmmaking debut. Anthony and Joe Russo’s recent endeavors include a couple of Super Bowl commercials as well as the upcoming Captain America: Civil War, looming as another potential Marvel/Disney box office blockbuster.
Meanwhile our lineup of promising, up-and-coming directorial talent includes: a London advertising agency creative director who recently made his directing debut with a short film; a production designer/art director whose first feature as a director recently made its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival; a Paris-based duo whose experimental work has opened up doors in the ad sector, as well as a new commercial/branded content production house affiliation in the U.S.; a feature filmmaker who just forayed for the first time into commercials with a campaign that broke on the Super Bowl telecast; and a Portland, Ore.-based agency creative director who’s successfully diversified into directing and is looking to further broaden his spotmaking/branded entertainment reach.
And then in our Cinematographers & Cameras Series, we will meet a trio of DPs: a three-time Oscar winner; the recent recipient of his first ASC Award; and a three-time Film Independent Spirit Award nominee for Best Cinematography.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More