SHOOTonline will publish a Special Directors>e.dition on Monday, May 4, that will contain the latest installment of our Directors Series content.
The lineup of Directors Profiles includes this year’s DGA Award winner for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Dramatic Series: Nicole Kassell, who was honored for Watchmen, the acclaimed HBO series for which she serves as a director and executive producer. Also in the mix from this year’s DGA competition is Joe Talbot, nominated for Best First Feature on the strength of The Last Black Man in San Francisco, which also won him the best dramatic directing award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Talbot discusses his feature directorial debut as well as his short-form aspirations which entail joining m ss ng p eces for spots and branded content.
Our Profiles lineup additionally features:
- Jamie Babbit–a three-time Emmy nominee (Best Director and two Outstanding Comedy Series nods) for Silicon Valley–who discusses her wide-ranging exploits spanning TV (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Russian Doll, Nora From Queens starring Awkwafina), features (the upcoming The Stand-In with Drew Barrymore) and commercials (including this year’s Super Bowl spot for Olay produced by Independent Media).
- Joseph Kosinski whose recent endeavors span such wide-ranging fare as the much-anticipated Top Gun: Maverick and tongue-in-cheek cinematic style ad work for Taco Bell, the latter done via his spotmaking home, RESET Content.
- Anthony & Joe Russo–whose directorial achievements include the highest grossing film of all time, Avengers: Endgame–who discuss their careers encompassing features, TV and short-form fare, the latter embodied in the exploits of their commercials/branded content studio, Bullitt.
- David Shane of production house O Positive discusses his latest Super Bowl spot, a tour de force comedy/visual effects effort for Rocket Mortgage starring Jason Momoa, as well as more sobering yet humorous public service Xmas-themed fare for the National Alliance of Mental Illness.
Meanwhile our lineup of promising, up-and-coming directorial talent includes: a director who scored a Grammy nomination this year for her music video work and recently landed at a prominent production house for branded content, commercials and music clips; a female filmmaker who is making inroads into a province not typically open to women–sheet metal, particularly groundbreaking truck advertising; and a director whose work reflects an affinity for crafting stories chronicling global youth culture and marginalized communities–while recently diversifying with the first installment in a new series of Nike films, and a music video for the debut single of a performing artist best known as a producer for the likes of IDK, AlunaGeorge, Joey Bada$$ and Jay Rock.
We look forward to presenting our Spring Directors Series>e.dition to you on Monday. Be well and stay safe.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More