Director Chris Wilcha has come aboard the roster of Park Pictures. Already at his new spotmaking roost, he has turned out jobs for Hyundai and Canon.
For the latter out of Dentsu America, Wilcha directed “Barcelona” in which a young couple embarks on a quest to re-create what had been a botched photo at the place where the woman’s parents first met. The commercial is the first in Canon’s “Your Second Shot” Project, which gives people the opportunity to re-do tragically missed photo ops.
Wilcha’s second Park-produced spot, Hyundai’s “Classroom,” is part of the car company’s “Hope on Wheels” campaign out of Innocean Worldwide. The subtle but intensely moving “Classroom” hauntingly employs an emptied-out classroom as a visual metaphor for children lost to cancer.
As a filmmaker, Wilcha is perhaps best known for ushering the hit storytelling show This American Life from Chicago Public Radio to television via Showtime.
“We’ve been huge fans of This American Life for a long time,” said Jackie Bisbee, partner/exec producer of Park Pictures, “and were amazed at how Chris translated people telling stories on the radio into visually innovative television without altering the soul of the original.”
Wilcha served as director and co-executive producer of This American Life, which earned two Emmys in 2008–one for Outstanding Nonfiction Series, the other for Outstanding Direction for a Nonfiction Series. Wilcha shared the directing honor with Adam Beckman for the “Escape” episode of This American Life. That same year This American Life also scored recognition at the International Documentary Association Awards.
Prior to Park Pictures, Wilcha was repped for spots by Chelsea. His body of work spans commercials, pilots, and shorts. His has earned a reputation for blending narrative filmmaking detail with the emotional realism of the documentary.
His first-person documentary, The Target Shoots First, which chronicled the director’s stint in the marketing department at mail-order record club Columbia House, garnered a shelf full of festival awards and aired on Cinemax and the Sundance Channel. His other documentary projects include The Social History of the Mosh Pit, Second Hand Stories, and I Pity the Fool. Wilcha recently moved from New York to Los Angeles where he is currently developing a project for producer-director Judd Apatow.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More