Long-standing U.K. production house Gorgeous–which had been repped stateside via Anonymous Content for some 10 years–has now gone off on its own in the U.S. marketplace, opening a West Hollywood office under the aegis of executive producer Anna Hashmi. Via its new Southern California shop, Gorgeous will produce work for the American ad market, representing its ensemble of U.K. talent–including directors Frank Budgen, Chris Palmer, Peter Thwaites, Tom Carty and Vince Squib–to U.S. agencies and brands. Furthermore, Gorgeous has added a notable stateside director to the mix, Ellen Kuras who comes over from Park Pictures.
Kuras first established herself in the industry as a cinematographer before successfully diversifying into directing. Her TV spot helming credits span such brands as Nike, AT&T, Powerade and Delta. She made a major directorial splash in 2009 when her feature documentary Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) earned an Academy Award nomination.
A three-time recipient of the Sundance Best Cinematography Award, Kuras has lensed assorted spots for various directors, as well as feature-length fare for such filmmakers as Martin Scorsese (Public Speaking), Sam Mendes (Away We Go), Spike Lee (Summer of Sam), and Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind).
As for the caliber of Gorgeous’ U.K. roster, Thwaites won the DGA Award as Best Commercial Director of 2008. Palmer was nominated for the DGA Award based on his spot work in 2009 and Budgen is a two-time nominee for the DGA honor on the strength of his ad entries for 2007 and 2010. Gorgeous recently earned distinction as the D&AD’s most awarded production company of the last 50 years.
Gorgeous’ U.S. exec producer Hashmi had most recently served as Thwaites’ full-time producer.
Gorgeous has set up a network of independent rep firms to serve as its sales force in the U.S.: Resource handles Gorgeous on the West Coast, MKH in the Midwest, and Representation Co on the East Coast.
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More