SHOOT’s sixth annual New Directors Showcase–which will be marked by an evening screening, panel discussion and reception next week (5/28) at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Theater in New York–offers a total of 38 up-and-coming helmers filling 30 slots (23 individual directors, a three-person team and six directorial duos).
Per usual, prominent in the mix are ad agency artisans who have pursued their directing aspirations. And while directors from outside the U.S. have traditionally been a part of the SHOOT Showcase over the years, this time around they are even more prevalent. Among the notables are:
• Mattias Montero of Social Club in Stockholm whose ATG’s “Statues” commercial is featured in the New Directors Showcase
• The young duo known as Sumo Science of Aardman Animations in Bristol, U.K., who scored with their first major helming endeavor, Stereo vs. Vacuum, a pilot episode for a mobile phone series commissioned by the Aardman studio and Player X.
• Keith Bearden of Mr. Hyde, Paris, who’s repped stateside by Good Films, New York. His “Apartment Sharing” spot for Brandt Washing Machines via DDB Paris first gained inclusion in SHOOT’s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery (SHOOT, 11/30/07).
• Baby, a duo from production house Rebolucion in Buenos Aires, who helmed Huggies’ “Uterus” for Ogilvy & Mather, Buenos Aires.
• Christian Bevilacqua of Therapy Films, London, who artistically depicted the many facets of a potato skin in McCain’s “Rustics” for London agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay.
• Sam Holst of The Sweet Shop, Auckland, N.Z.., for a humorous yet unsettling spec spot titled “Slacker” for seek.com.au.
• Luis Carone of 02 Filmes, Sao Paulo, Brazil for AMC Car Insurance’s “Remote Control” out of DM9 DDB, Sao Paulo. Carone just signed for stateside representation with Venice, Calif.-based Backyard (see separate story in this issue).
• And Tony Briggs whose short film Creative Dictator for thecreamery.co.uk pokes fun–and for that matter, dry wit–at the agency business.
Furthermore, foreign work registered with SHOOT judges this year, including: Amnesty International’s moving “Signatures” directed by Philippe Grammaticopoulos of Mr. Hyde, Paris and London, and repped stateside by Mr. Hyde @ Curious New York (agency was TBWA Paris); a Uruguay Lottery spot which shows how spatial relationships change after a lotto win as captured by director Guillermo Rocamora of Big Mama Productions, New York (agency was Publicis Impetu, Montevideo); Diesel’s “Space Diner” directed by Rozan & Schmeltz of bicoastal/international Partizan (agency was Surface To Air, Paris); and Nike Plus’ “I Am Not A Runner” helmed by Eran Creevy of Sleeper Films, Santa Monica (Wieden+Kennedy, Amsterdam).
Creative pedigree As alluded to earlier, ad agency creatives who have transitioned to directing careers continue to make their mark in the Showcase, a prime example being Brian Billow who recently exited his creative director’s post at DDB Chicago (SHOOT, 4/11) to settle into the director’s chair at bicoastal/international Hungry Man. He registered in the Showcase with Wrigley’s “Big Red Montoya” for DDB Chicago.
Ryan Ebner of bicoastal/international HSI Productions was on the agency side for 13 years, serving as a creative/partner at Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners in the Bay Area for most of his career. Ebner’s Showcase recognition came in part for his “MaternaCord” product spoof spot for Mother, New York.
And Harold Einstein started out as a copywriter before making the career shift to director. He is now on board the roster of bicoastal/international Station and gained Showcase inclusion for such humorous fare as Avis’ “Accents” for McCann Erickson, N.Y.
Team work Besides the aforementioned Baby, Sumo Science, and Rozan & Schmeltz, the other teams in the Showcase are: The Docter Twins from DUCK Studios, Los Angeles (for Wienerschnitzel’s “Gotcha” out of DGWB Advertising, Santa Ana, Calif.); Bitstate of The Ebeling Group, New York (for Havaianas’ “Bus Stop” via BBDO New York); Gentlemen from Uber Content, Hollywood (Doritos’ “Mouse Trap” via a competition overseen by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco); and the trio known as Syndrome from Robot Films, Los Angeles (for the Estelle music video featuring Kanye West and titled “American Boy”).
Meanwhile there was a fair smattering of spec fare in the Showcase such as director Tony McNeal’s “Emergency Worthy” for Levi’s (McNeal signed with the recently launched Hydraulx Filmz, Santa Monica); helmer Lanre Olabisi’s “A Better Way” for Yahoo! Personals; Guido Verweyen’s “Serenade” spot for Joe Boxer (Verweyen is handled in Texas for spots by Big Fish Films, Dallas); and Rob Devor’s “Clams” for Coleman (Devor is with bicoastal Nonfiction Unlimited).
Devor, a documentary filmmaker, recently landed an ambitious global campaign for Bonefish Grill out of Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York (see feature story in this week’s issue).
Speaking of documentaries, Great Genius And Profound Stupidity helped secure a Showcase slot for director Benita Raphan. The doc. is slated for air on the Sundance Channel.
Rounding out the SHOOT New Directors Showcase lineup are:
• Adria Petty of harvest, Santa Monica, for Target’s “Portal” via Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
• Rich Lee of DNA Hollywood whose pop-up book spot for Eni out of TBWA, Milan, is this week’s entry in SHOOT’s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery.
• David Katzenberg of Prettybird, Santa Monica for his short film The Tale of RJ.
• Keith Schofield of CaviarLA for Jennie-O’s “Wrestling” out of BBDO’s Minneapolis shop.
• Clay Weiner of Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles, for Bud Light’s “Dude” from DDB Chicago.
• And David Weinstock of Waif & Stray, N.Y., for Toyota’s “Icy Drive” out of The Ballpark, Santa Monica.
Lead sponsors for the Showcase event are the DGA, harvest and Sony. Silver sponsors are Kodak and Deluxe New York. For a full rundown of this year’s New Directors Showcase honorees, see our series of individual mini-profiles in this issue.
“Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic 3” Rule Box Office For 1st Weekend Of 2025
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025.
The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel earned $23.8 million in its third weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," which has dominated the past two weekends, wasn't far behind.
"Sonic 3" stayed close with a 3-day estimate of $21.2 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $187.5 million and helping the overall franchise cross $1 billion worldwide. "Mufasa's" running total is slightly less, with $169.2 million.
In third place, Focus Features' "Nosferatu" remake defied the fate of so many of its genre predecessors and fell only 39% in its second weekend. Horror films typically fall sharply after the first weekend and anything less than a 50% decline is notable. "Nosferatu," which added 140 screens, claimed $13.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its running total to $69.4 million since its Christmas debut. The film, directed by Robert Eggers, already surpassed its reported production budget of $50 million, though that figure does not account for marketing and promotion expenses).
No new wide releases opened this weekend, leaving the box office top 10 once again to holdovers from previous weeks. Several have been in theaters since Thanksgiving. One of those, "Moana 2," claimed the No. 4 spot for Disney in its sixth weekend in theaters. The animated sequel earned another $12.4 million, bumping its global total to $960.5 million.
The Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," dipped only slightly in its second weekend, bringing in $8.1 million. With $41.7 million total, it's Searchlight's highest grossing film since Disney acquired the company in... Read More