Director Douglas Avery has signed with bicoastal Epoch Films for U.S. representation. Among his credits are Gatorade’s “Keep Her In the Game” for TBWAChiatDay, Carhartt’s “Weathermen” out of the client’s in-house Carhartt Creative Department, Audi’s “Summer Force of Nature” out of Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco, and LeanIn.org and Girl Scouts of America’s “Ban Bossy” campaign for BBDO New York.
Avery comes over to Epoch from production house Furlined which had handled him for the past 10 years.
Avery began his career in photography as a graduate of NYU, first assisting Annie Leibovitz, then later honing his craft with the likes of Richard Avedon and Steven Klein. Avery found success in fashion photography in London for ID, The Face, and Dazed & Confused, but had always been drawn by film’s ability to tell a more immersive and nuanced story than what any single frame can offer. While in London, Avery made many short films, including Hitch, which was featured in Cannes’ Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase, thus launching his career as a commercial director. He won Best New Director at the British Craft Advertising Awards for his first commercial for Levi’s out of BBH London; his second project in the U.S. was awarded a Clio for Best Direction, and assorted accolades followed.
“I’m always inspired to dig deeper, inspired by the stories of people and places that surround me, and strive to reflect it in my work,” said Avery. “At the core of creativity is discovery and growth, and my recent move from Paris to Los Angeles with my family to join the ranks of Epoch is an auspicious opportunity to continue to spark both.”
Epoch founding partner Mindy Goldberg related, “We believe that this partnership will bring out new things in both Douglas as a director and Epoch as a company.”
The Epoch roster is represented in the West by Dexter Randazzo, Aaron Friedland and Donn Kennedy at The Department of Sales, in the East by Tara Averill and John Robertson at Representation, and in the Midwest by Chris Brown of Baer Brown Reps.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More