February 10, 2014 British director Tom Tagholm, best known for the lauded 2012 commercial “Meet the Superhumans” promoting Paralympic Games coverage on U.K.’s Channel 4, has signed with Park Pictures for U.S. and U.K. representation. Tagholm has helmed an eclectic body of work, first at 4 Creative in London where he started, and later working directly with ad agencies….Director Peter Care has joined the U.S. roster of Green Dot Films. U.K. born, Care began his career helming music clips including pioneering work for R.E.M., Depeche Mode, Bruce Springsteen and Cabaret Voltaire. Care’s commercial directing career took off at Satellite Films, the sister company to Propaganda. He eventually moved to Bob Industries and most recently Wondros before joining Green Dot. He’s directed work for Levi’s, Coca-Cola, Verizon, AT&T, Chevy, Domino’s, Chase, Toyota, Sprint, Walgreens and OnStar, among others…. Captain Phillips earned editor Christopher Rouse, A.C.E., the American Cinema Editors Eddie Award for best edited dramatic feature while Jay Cassidy, A.C.E., Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten, A.C.E., won the Eddie for comedy or musical feature for their work on American Hustle. Taking the top animated feature honor was editor Jeff Draheim on the strength of Frozen….
February 20. 2009 Director Chuck Bennett and his long time producer Andrew Denyer, both formerly with Big Lawn Films, have come aboard L.A.-based trio films headed by exec producer/owners Taylor Ferguson and Erin Tauscher…Italian directing duo Borgato & Berte has signed with Savant Film for exclusive U.S. spot representation. Headed by partners/EPs Joby Barnhart and Jamie Miller, Savant becomes Borgato & Berte’s first stateside commercialmaking roost….Gentlemen, a directing duo consisting of Brett Snider and Billy Federighi, has signed with Bandito Brothers for exclusive U.S. spot representation. Gentlemen earned inclusion into SHOOT’s 2008 New Directors Showcase. The duo comes to Bandito Brothers from Uber Content….Editor Joe Kriksciun has joined FilmCore. He will be based in its NY office. Kriksciun had been with Bluerock in NY….Roger Baldacci has been promoted from EVP/creative director to EVP/executive creative director, and Wade Devers from EVP/creative director to EVP/creative director/head of art at Arnold Boston where they will partner with CCO Pete Favat….
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