International production company Arts & Sciences has signed director Daniel Kleinman to its roster for representation in the U.S. One of the industry’s most awarded commercial directors, a pioneer of the modern music video, and designer of the iconic opening credit sequences for the James Bond film franchise, Kleinman will bring his years of expertise, invention, and superb craft to branded content and beyond at Arts & Sciences.
As a commercial director, Kleinman is famous for bringing humor, irreverence, and a dash of the macabre to his films, taking simple concepts to their often hilarious, always-affecting extremes. Some of his recent branded work includes campaigns for clients Accenture, Vodaphone, Pepsi and Budget Direct, and past clients include Smirnoff, Levi’s, Xbox, Johnnie Walker, Durex, Boddington’s, and Audi. Kleinman is based in the U.K. where his production company, Rattling Stick (co-founded in 1996 alongside Ringan Ledwidge and Johnnie Frankel), has been a commercial mainstay.
Kleinman has won innumerable accolades over his decades-long career, earning him the title of “Most Awarded Director in the World” by the Gunn Report. Among his honors is the President’s Award from Creative Circle, the Chairman’s Award at the British Arrows, awards from Cannes, D&AD, Clio, the New York One Show, the Midsummer Awards, and more. His 2005 Guinness commercial, “NoitulovE,” was the most-awarded campaign of its year. It is widely regarded as ranking among the best commercials ever made.
“The word icon and legend is thrown around too casually,” said Mal Ward, managing director and partner at Arts & Sciences. “But Danny Kleinman has earned both of those titles, he’s also an incredible collaborator and singular creative partner. Arts & Sciences is beyond thrilled to have Danny on board, and we look forward to supporting him on his next creative ventures.”
Raised in London, Kleinman attended Hornsey Art School and used his training in illustration to get his start in film, working as a storyboard artist at the dawn of the music video industry. Kleinman is a musician himself, having co-founded the proto-punk band Bazooka Joe which featured Adam Ant and headlined the Sex Pistols’ first show. Combining his musical experience with his storyboarding expertise, Kleinman directed his first music video in 1983 and went on to direct videos for scores of artists, not least among them Madonna, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Pat Benatar, Van Halen, Billie Eilish, and Prince. Kleinman was instrumental in developing the use of postproduction special effects in music videos, which has become a hallmark of the medium. He was a regular at the MTV Video Music Awards in the ‘80s with consistent nominations for Most Experimental Video and Best Direction, among other categories and award nominations.
“Arts & Sciences represents some of the most interesting talents in this industry,” said Kleinman. “I’m extremely pleased to be included among them and look forward to working with their fine crew in the U.S.!”
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More