Australian director Graeme Burfoot, whose spotmaking roost Down Under is The Feds, has secured stateside representation, joining the roster of Mechaniks, the Venice-based house headed by exec producer Andrea Kikot and director Boris Damast.
Among Burfoot’s most recent work are spots for Volkswagen out of DDB Needham Sydney, Mitsubishi for Clemenger/BBDO Sydney, Woolworth Kids for M&C Saatchi, Sydney, GM/Holden via McCann Erickson Melbourne, and Mobil Exxon for McCann in New York and Russia.
His NBCC campaign for Breast Cancer won him a silver award for best direction at 2007 London Awards, a finalist for best direction at the 2007 Asia Pacific Adfest and a bronze for best direction at the 2007 Clio Awards.
Burfoot is known for combining top drawer actor performances and visual effects to make for engaging storytelling. His body of work, though, extends well beyond commercials.
Burfoot’s short film The Beneficiary was shortlisted for the Academy Awards in 1999. The Beneficiary hit the festival circuit globally and won honors in Palm Springs.
In ’02, Burfoot directed the three-part drama of Robert Drew’s lauded book “Shark Net” for the ABC and BBC, earning him an AFI nomination. The Bryan Brown “Two Twisted” episode for Channel Nine, Australia, then earned him a best director nomination at the Directors’ Guild Awards.
“Overnight Success” Has Been More Than A Decade In The Making For Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson
Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson, two of the stars of Netflix's whodunit "The Perfect Couple," have news for you if you want to call them breakouts: They've been working in this business for more than a decade.
Fahy made her TV debut in 2009 in an episode of "Gossip Girl." Hewson's first big film role was in 2011's "This Must Be the Place." They do concede, however, that it's recent TV roles โ "The White Lotus" for Fahy and "Bad Sisters" for Hewson โ that have led to new frontiers of opportunity.
Susanne Bier, who directed "The Perfect Couple," says both Fahy and Hewson are "going to be big stars."
"They certainly have proper, profound star quality, Both of them in very different ways," Bier says. "Both are incredibly creative, incredibly smart, and also have a impressive insight as to who they are. You can be a great actor or actress and not necessarily really know who you are yourself. And they do."
Hewson, 33, whose dad is U2 front man Bono, may have grown up in a famous family but she's now in demand in her own right. She will next be seen in a second season of "Bad Sisters, " out in November. She's in Noah Baumbach's next film, alongside Adam Sandler, George Clooney and Riley Keough. She's also been cast in Steven Spielberg's next production and is set to star opposite Murray Bartlett in a racing series for Hulu.
Fahy, 34, is in production on a limited series with Julianne Moore and Milly Alcock called "Sirens," written by Molly Smith Metzler ("Maid") for Netflix. She also has two films in the can with Josh O'Connor ("The Crown," "Challengers") and Brandon Sklenar ("It Ends With Us").
The two actors spoke candidly about this phase of their careers. This interview has been condensed for clarity and... Read More