NEW YORK --

Director Jeannette Godoy has come aboard the roster of New York-based Harpoon Pictures. Godoy came to the industry’s attention last year, earning inclusion into SHOOT‘s 2011 New Directors Showcase in large part on the strength of Bridgestone’s “A Boy and His Tire,” a spec spot she wrote and directed. That same year she also helmed a national campaign for Zest. Additional directing credits include a poignant PSA, “Find-A-Cure,” for the Juvenile Diabetes Association of Los Angeles.

“A Boy and His Tire” takes us through the life of a young boy into early manhood, starting with his playing on his beloved automobile tire turned swing hanging from a tree. He takes the tire with him everywhere and it’s a habit he can’t shake.
    For instance, we see him seated with the tire at the dinner table as his concerned parents look on. As an older lad, he is a passenger on the school bus, accompanied by the tire.
    Years later we see him in the movie theater, seated next to his tire. Other kids throw popcorn at him.
    He even takes the tire to the high school prom as his date.
Belittled and derided as a loser for his tire fetish, one day the tables are dramatically turned when a lovely woman is stranded due to a flat tire on her car. Along comes our boy turned man walking along with his ubiquitous tire. They smile at each other and clearly a romance is sparked–turns out that tire came in handy after all. They speed off together in her sports car convertible.
    Godoy earlier told SHOOT that the spec spot concept was inspired by Lars and The Real Girl, a feature film–directed by noted spotmaker Craig Gillespie of MJZ–which centers on a delusional young man who enters into a relationship with an anatomically correct doll he orders online.

At the time Godoy became part of last year’s SHOOT New Directors Showcase, she was with production house Superlounge, her roost prior to landing at Harpoon, which is headed by exec producer Chester Mayer and director of new business development Chris Miller.

Godoy joins a Harpoon directorial roster that includes Joel Peissig, Hernan Kesselman, John Alper, Alejandro Toledo, Tricia Caruso, Anita Madeira and Jeremy Russell.

Godoy is currently shooting a documentary about her family’s journey from a life of poverty in Tijuana, Mexico, to success in the U.S., a project which also addresses anti-immigrant sentiments in this country.

Godoy made her first industry mark as a choreographer for commercials, TV, features, concert tours and music videos. She is perhaps best known in this capacity for her work on Sir Mix-A-Lot’s video “Baby Got Back” as well as the Chris Rock rapumentary film CB4.

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