Great Guns, the international production company headed by founder/chairman Laura Gregory, has grown its global footprint with the opening of shops in Shanghai, Singapore and Mumbai. These offices join the company’s continuing operations in London, Bangkok, and Venice, Calif.
As part of the deal facilitating the Mumbai launch, Great Guns has entered into a joint venture with Sajiv Kurup’s Crocodile Films, an Indian film production company with representatives in Kuala Lumpur and the Middle East. Crocodile has produced notable campaigns for Appy Fizz and Grappo Fizz, the Frooti “Mango Theme” commercial, and the Medimix relaunch campaign.
To oversee its expansion, Great Guns has appointed Janene Fitzgerald as head of the Asia Pacific region. Based in Shanghai where she has most recently been producing with Black + Cameron, she will work closely with Kurup. Sheridan Thomas is head of production in London and Kojo Abban has been promoted to head of sales for the U.K. and Europe.
The move to expand globally comes at a time when more clients and agencies seek an international approach to communications, demanding multi-disciplinary directors that can operate in different markets.
To further support its expansion, Great Guns has signed exclusive deals with established directors based in Asia, including Bo Krabbe, Marco Pinesi and Squid. Krabbe, Pinesi and Squid will also be repped out of the London office. Additionally Great Guns has secured animation and design collective MIE for exclusive Asia representation while signing K-Roll from Gang Films, Paris. K-Roll directs both music videos and advertising, having recently helmed a Nina Ricci ad. As part of a crossover deal with Gang Films, the Paris house will be representing Great Guns Paul Shearer and Roar Uthang in France.
Shearer directed Volvo’s Blind Preview, a short film which earned SHOOT Top Spot (11/27/09) distinction. Out of Euro RSCG 4D, Amsterdam, the short introduced the new Volvo S60 without showing the car–instead offering detailed drawings and a painting by blind Turkish artist Eşref Armağan.
As for greatguns:USA under the aegis of managing partner Tom Korsan, the company recently had a hand in a Gold Lion and a Bronze Lion in the Cannes International Advertising Festival’s Direct Lions and Cyber Lions competitions, respectively, as well as a D&AD Yellow Pencil–all for the Virgin Australia “4320LA/SYD” initiative out of Droga5, Sydney. Greatguns: USA and Goodoil Films, Sydney, teamed on the job, which was billed as Australia’s first Twitter-based campaign, giving three Aussies the chance to travel to L.A. for three jam-packed days. The catch: they had to Tweet every minute of the trip, generating buzz for Virgin Australia’s “3 Day L.A. Deals.”
David Nobay was executive creative director for Droga5, with Ben Akers serving as senior copywriter, Ben Smith as senior art director, Paul Johnston as agency producer and John McLean as digital producer.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More