Director David Gelb, whose lauded documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi made its North American premiere at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, has joined the roster of bicoastal Nonfiction Unlimited for representation in commercials, short films and branded content. Jiro Dreams of Sushi follows 85-year-old master chef Jiro Ono who maintains a tiny restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, in a Tokyo subway station. From the complicated relationship between Ono and his sons to the ins and outs of the tuna auction, this documentary is both a character study of the elder sushi artisan and an insightful look at his esteemed restaurant which earned a coveted three Michelin stars and is billed in many circles as serving the best sushi in the world. Jiro Dreams of Sushi was purchased at Tribeca by Magnolia Pictures and has gone on to tally $2 million at the box office…..Crispin Porter+Bogusky (CP+B) has hired Rob Steiner as executive integrated producer to head the agency’s U.K. production team. He will be based out of CP+B’s London office, working on clients such as Milka, Paddy Power and Ubisoft. Steiner most recently freelanced at CHI, where he worked on TV and web video for Lexus. Earlier he served as operations director at Wieden + Kennedy, London, where he led all forms of production and produced work for Nike, Coca-Cola, Honda and Nokia. He was also previously head of TV at Grey London, where he set up the TV/production department from scratch….
May 25, 2007
Director Yael Staav has joined Furlined for exclusive representation for commercials and music videos in the U.S….Bicoastal Spot Welders has extended its reach internationally, entering into a strategic alignment with London-based editorial house Work. Per the arrangement, Work’s stable of editors–including Rick Orrick and Neil Smith–gain representation and bases of operation stateside. Conversely, the ensemble of Spot Welders’ talent garners a U.K. foothold….Editors Beth Cramer and Sebastian Wainstein have joined Bond, the creative editorial/visual effects design boutique in New York City….Editor Bill Chessman has left Venice Beach Editorial, the in-house arm of TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles, to join edit house Cosmo Street….Joe Nelms has been named creative director at Philadelphia-based independent ad agency Red Tettemer. Earlier he worked at Warner Bros. Films as VP of advertising, and BBDO New York and Grey New York in creative capacities….
