As this issue’s coverage celebrates the talent in SHOOT’s fifth annual New Directors Showcase–honored during a screening/panel discussion/reception event at the DGA Theatre in New York–I’d like to take the opportunity to reflect on the competition.
Ironically while five years is a short span, my first thought is related to an even shorter time frame–just back a couple of years to the 2005 Showcase, which included a promising talent, David Gray, who made an impressive transition from noted agency creative to a full fledged director at Hungry Man.
It was the offbeat, charmingly funny Starter work he directed, featuring Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Brett Favre, that caught our attention and gained Gray a slot in that third annual SHOOT Showcase.
I hearken back to that ’05 Showcase at the DGA Theatre in New York because less than two years later Gray was at the DGA Awards ceremony in Los Angeles as a nominee for best commercial director of ’06.
I’m not referencing Gray’s career progression to pat ourselves on the back but rather because it’s inspiring to the unique brand of artisans who struggle, scramble and dedicate themselves to becoming viable directors in a marketplace that is highly competitive and oversaturated in numbers.
And truth be told, as reported in our profile of Gray in this spring’s Directors Series, he was hardly an overnight success. The fact is that it was many years on the agency side of the business that groomed him to be a director. And the lessons he learned along the way as a creative at such shops as BBDO New York and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, served him in good stead.
Those same dynamics–perseverance, talent, careful reflection–are evident in this year’s crop of New Directors Showcase talent. And like Gray, there are several from the agency ranks who have aspired to directing careers and made great strides toward that end. But there are also in the ’07 Showcase many others from diverse backgrounds, including film students who have shown incredible initiative, connecting with notable established creatives to secure strong conceptual spec concepts.
Let’s face it, though–it is indeed an uphill, often daunting yet exciting climb. And new talent showcases of all sorts still have a high percentage of promising prospects who eventually don’t quite make the grade despite years of trying. But that makes it all the more important to cite examples like Gray, which thankfully aren’t all that isolated during SHOOT’s five years of presenting Showcase directors. Among the noteworthy others is Nelson Cabrera who I first met in the audience during our first Showcase.
A veteran first a.d. on commercials, Cabrera was just starting to do spec work, hoping to demonstrate his filmmaking sensibilities. The next year he gained inclusion into our second annual Showcase and appeared on stage. Today he’s an established director with HKM, underscoring just one aspect of what makes the Showcase so gratifying for all of us at SHOOT.
“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